Carolyn Grace and the Deadly Collective
by Thomas Evans
Summary: Carolyn Grace is just your average witch, but when things start happening to her family and friends, she finds within herself, the power to be anything but ordinary.
1. Acknowledgements

I will not bother you with "Author Notes" at the beginning and end of each chapter, or any chapter for that matter. I will say here instead that as I am a first time author, the story may be a bit sketchy at times, and I may dwell on something that seems fascinating to me, but boring to others. I am attempting to write a story that you will find entertaining and I am working very hard on it. In spite of that, I accept and I will read every review I get, good or bad. If you come across something that you do not like please feel free to tell me, I cannot improve unless I know my mistakes. Having said that, you may feel free to skip over the rest of this section and start the story, however, the following information is very important to me and possibly important to those mentioned.

I will attempt to give literary acknowledgment to some other authors of fan fiction throughout my stories, but in case I am unable to, I would like to thank those who have most inspired me. Inverarity, ASH.l.e.i.11., Vekin87, mcrc, and DaveO, from FanFiction dot Net, as well as Illyich from Harry Potter Fan Fiction, and Barb (the creator of the Psychic Serpent Series), have all in one way or another shaped the Harry Potter Universe into something that any fan would want to be a part of. Additionally, I would like to thank my beta readers, Ravenclaw_Girl28, and ASH.l.e.i.11 for helping me find mistakes and improve the flow of the story. My hat is off to each of you.

One thing of importance: You will notice the mention of using doors in the story here and there. Doors are just that, like broomsticks, doors of all kinds (mostly house doors, but a few radical kids can be seen flying car doors) are enchanted methods of flight that give the user the maneuverability of broomsticks, but the comfort and security of flying carpets. This idea is a tribute to Anna Grayson author Katie O'Brien, published on .net by DaveO. Anna Grayson, Boris Grayson, The Crimson Guard, Drogo Hospital, and events described from the Anna Grayson stories are copyrighted to Katie O'Brien in care of Dave O'Brien. If you get the chance, please read this story, as it quickly became one of my favorites. The story of Anna Grayson captured my attention, but Katie's story captured my heart. God bless you Katie.


	2. Ch 01: Breakfast to Bed

**Chapter One:**

**Breakfast to Bed**

Carolyn's eyes snapped open before her alarm clock had even gone off. She looked over and saw that it was 7:57 am. She had been eleven years old for nearly eight hours. As she sat up in bed, she looked around her room. She didn't feel any older than she did yesterday, but she knew that eight hours ago she had reached a milestone in her short life. At eleven years old, Carolyn was now old enough to enter the world, into which she was born. Unlike her friends from Piedmont Elementary, Carolyn would not be going to the local middle school. Instead, she would be going to one of the magical schools here in the United States.

You see, unlike all of her school friends, Carolyn wasn't your typical eleven-year-old from Piedmont Acres, North Carolina. Carolyn Grace was a witch. In fact, everyone in her entire family was a witch or a wizard. Her father, George Grace, had the potential for being a very influential wizard, but chose instead to follow his passion of designing homes for his muggle clientele. Hannah Grace, Carolyn's mom, was an influential witch. One of the more powerful and respected aurors within the Department of Magic, Mrs. Grace recently ended a brief term as the personal bodyguard for the Secretary of Magic, in Pennsylvania. Then there was Carolyn's brother, Kevin. Kevin would be starting his sophomore year at Willowood School for Magic, come September, and a better brother could never exist. Kevin was fiercely protective of his little sister. Just last year when she accidentally performed a bit of magic in front of some muggle children, Kevin threatened to hex each of them for calling her names.

Of course, this was just her immediate family, all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, and well, everyone was magical. Her grandfather, Granger Grace, was shocked when her father decided to work so closely with muggles, non-magical people, because he felt that George was better than that. Once he accepted it however, Grandpa Granger helped George set up his business so that he could thrive in the muggle world as well as the wizarding world.

The alarm clock started going off, pulling Carolyn from her thoughts. After turning it off, she grabbed her robe and slipped her feet into her slippers before heading to the door. This was going to be the best day of her life, and she couldn't wait to start it. Crossing the room and opening her door, she-

"SURPRISE‼!"

Carolyn jumped back a foot as her entire family descended on her. "Merlin's pants, you scared the life out of me!" she snapped.

"Language young lady. It may be your birthday, but you will not forsake your manners." Her father was giving her a stern look that quickly dissolved into a smile. "Regardless, today is the big day."

Her mother joined in, "Yes, it is, so let us enjoy your birthday breakfast, and then we can dress and get a start to this day."

Smiling as she jumped back into her bed, Carolyn couldn't help but think of how lucky she was. Today was her big day. She was eleven years old and she would be getting her own wand. The other three Graces entered her room each taking a seat on a section of her bed as Geely, the family house elf, levitated a large tray with their breakfast to them.

"I made all Miss's favorites. You has eggs and gravy and sausages. And Geely made Miss a special batch of elderberry muffins." The elf informed her happily.

"Thank you Geely, you're the best."

As Carolyn dug into her food, the family began discussing their plans for the day. After a while, her father polished off a muffin and rose to his feet.

"I hate to say this, but the Masons in Raleigh want me to make some changes to the plans for their new home today, so I may not be back for your party." Her father said. "So, I want to give you my gift now before I go." As he handed her a small square box he smiled at her.

Carolyn took the box from her father, both nervous and excited. She didn't even need to guess what it was. She knew that every blood born Grace for as long as anyone could remember had gotten one of these on their eleventh birthday. Without thinking, she waved the wrapping off the package, sending it flying across the bed. Her mother looked surprised, but her brother looked worried.

"Whoa, you need to watch that kiddo." Kevin said. "Now you can get into trouble for underage magic."

"I just removed the wrapping." She said with wide eyes.

"Not to worry dear," her mother said. "I am sure a team of aurors are not coming down to arrest you just for opening a package," She told Carolyn reassuringly. "Just in case however, try to be a bit more careful."

Smiling, Carolyn opened the box containing her gift from her father. She smiled wider at her own family crest ring. The ring, which bore the Grace family crest and contained unique properties that the wearer would discover over time, would magically mold itself to the owner's finger when they first put it on, and no one ever removed it, for any reason.

"You know," her father said as he stood. "These rings have caused a bit of trouble for our family over the years."

"Yes," Carolyn answered, having heard the story when Kevin got his ring. "But they have also given us a great many blessings."

Her father chuckled, but Carolyn remembered three years ago when she went to her Cousin Greg's eleventh birthday. His father had given him a Grace Ring and when Greg put it on, the ring failed to fit itself to his finger. His father was furious as it proved that Greg was not a blood born Grace. Gregory Sr. sent both Greg and his mother away to live in England. This memory made Carolyn a bit nervous as she placed her own ring on the pinky finger of her right hand. As she slipped it in place, the ring instantly shrunk itself to fit her finger and she let out a squeal of relief and pleasure. A warm feeling enveloped Carolyn immediately and she knew the ring recognized a true Grace. Her father leaned in to kiss her forehead before heading for the door.

"I have to go sweetheart, but have fun at the plaza today." He said as he headed out the door.

"Well then, I guess that means we need to hurry and get dressed." Her mother said getting to her own feet. "Finish your breakfast though. It will be some time before we take our lunch, and we are meeting your aunt Angela at _Zadow's_ restaurant. And for goodness sakes stop summoning everything." Mrs. Grace said turning to see Carolyn's clothes heading to the bed on their own.

"Sorry mom." Carolyn laughed as she stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth. When both Mrs. Grace and Kevin had left her room, Carolyn turned her attention to Geely.

"O.K. Miss," Carolyn said to the house elf. "Give it up. What kind of cake did you make for me this year?"

Carolyn loved Geely's cakes. Each year the house elf created a different cake for Carolyn's birthday. Last year's was the best to date, three layers of Carolyn's favorite flavors. The cake's vanilla center was sandwiched between a chocolate base and an elderberry top. Sweet butter cream icing then covered the entire cake. Geely had enchanted the candles to lead the birthday song and jump from the cake when Carolyn blew them out.

"Geely is keeping that a secret Miss," the house elf responded. "But this, Geely's not keeping secret."

Carolyn looked down to see a small box in Geely's hands.

"Oh Geely," she said. "You never have to get me a gift. Just having you around is all I need."

"Geely knows Miss," the house elf sad, as tears filled her huge eyes. "But this is Miss Carolyn's last birthday as a little girl. After today, Geely's Miss Carolyn is being a young woman. Geely wanted Miss to have this and remember that in here," Geely pointed to her heart, "Miss Carolyn will always be Geely's little girl."

Carolyn hugged the diminutive elf closely and kissed her on the cheek. When she finally let her go, Geely handed her gift to Carolyn. Opening the box, Carolyn looked down on a heart shaped locket. She gently pulled it out of the box and opened it. In the small window where a picture should be, Carolyn saw scenes of Geely and herself from the past eleven years. There were scenes of Geely feeding newborn Carolyn. Carolyn's first steps, her and Geely playing, and Geely cleaning up a mess to keep Mrs. Grace from finding out that Carolyn had made it all played for Carolyn.

"Geely this is wonderful. I didn't know you had made pictures of these things."

"No Miss," Geely said. "Those is Geely's memories. I puts them in that locket, so Miss will always know I loves her."

Carolyn hugged the house elf again and whispered to her, "How could I ever forget?"

"I know you are going to be disappointed to hear this, but as we cannot take the car, and I cannot take the both of you side-along when apparating, we will have to take the floo."

"Mom…" Carolyn whined, "I always end up with all of that soot on me and in my mouth."

"I am sorry dear," Mrs. Grace said, "but a portkey for such a short distance is impractical, and we are not taking brooms or doors through muggle skies. Now, stop pouting, or you will stay here with Geely."

Just as Mrs. Grace said this, five owls swooped into the house, each one carrying a number of letters, which they dropped at the feet of Mrs. Grace. Bending down to scoop them up, she sighed at a stain one of the owls had left behind.

"Geely, clean this up," she called to the house elf.

"Yes Missus." Geely said summoning a scrub brush and pail.

"Oh, your letters are here." Mrs. Grace said handing four envelopes to Carolyn and one to Kevin.

Carolyn quickly scanned the envelopes and as she suspected, she receive one from the Salem Witches Institute as well as the Bowman Academy, and Castlewood, but the third one was from a school she hadn't heard of. Beauxbatons Academe, according to the seal, had sent her an invitation, but none from Willowood.

"Mom," she said, nearly panicked. "I don't have Willowood's letter."

"Of course you do. There are four invitations with your name." Mrs. Grace said, continuing to sort through the mail.

"Yes, but the fourth is from a school called Beauxbatons."

Confused her mother reached for the envelopes. "Perhaps you did not get an invitation from Willowood. Kevin did you-"

"Yeah, right here." Kevin said, before his mother could finish her question.

As Mrs. Grace continued sorting through the mail, Carolyn rechecked her own mail. Near frantic, Carolyn practically jumped when her mother held up the last letter in the pile. "Oh, here it is," she said looking at the envelope. "I'm sorry dear I did not realize you would be getting a fifth invitation." She said handing the letter to her daughter. Carolyn took her invitation letter from Willowood School for Magic, discarding the remaining four without even opening them. Tearing it open, she excitedly began reading.

_**From Willowood School for Magic**_

_**William Jarrel, Dean (Order of Merlin: Second Class, Former Auror)**_

_Dear Miss Grace,_

_I am happy to announce that you have been invited to attend Willowood School for Magic. As you are no doubt aware, our school maintains a very high standard in training young witches and wizards in the arts and sciences of magic. Should you accept this invitation, you should arrive at the school no later than 5:00 pm on September 1, 2002. If your require assistance in arriving, Willowood will supply transit for you. All students must be in school uniform upon arrival without exceptions. Willowood does offer flying lessons to all students, regardless of grade level, but prohibits first year students from bringing personal broomsticks, doors, carpets, and flying creatures capable of bearing riders, (Phoenixes are of course exempt)._

_If you accept this invitation, you should reply by owl post no later than July 31, 2002. Of course, if you opt not to attend Willowood, we certainly understand and wish you the best of luck at whatever school you attend. Students requiring special medical needs should have their requirements sent in by their family healer no later than July 31._

_Sincerely,_

_Hazel Hungorn_

_Hazel Hungorn_

_Dean of Students_

_P.S. Enclosed with this letter, you will find a list of supplies you will need, should you accept our invitation for the school year._

_-H. H._

Turning to the second page of the invitation, Carolyn saw a list of supplies that she was already familiar with, having been with Kevin when he got his first letter.

_First year students will require the following:_

_Uniform:_

_5 Uniform compliant robes for classrooms_

_3 plain work robes_

_1 pair Protective Gloves_

_1 Winter Cloak_

_Muggle clothing for grades 6 and 7 are unnecessary, as students below eighth grade are not permitted to leave the school grounds. All clothing should contain nametags and they must be sized appropriately._

_Books:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Brunhilde Bornebord_

_Elementary Magical Theory by Winslet Grape_

_Beginning Transfiguration: Making a Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear by Everard Light_

_Guide to Magical Plants and Herbs by Pomona Sprout_

_Draughts, Potions, and Balms for the Beginner by Sandra Stewert_

_Dangers and Delights of Magical Creatures by Uri Hunter_

_Basic Protective Magics by Saul Leonard_

_Additional Supplies:_

_1 Wand_

_1 Cauldron (pewter or cast iron, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set of brass scales_

_Additional standard school supplies, ink, quills, parchment, etc._

_Students may also bring one familiar not associated with dark magic (i.e. serpents, ravens, insects, etc.)._

As Carolyn finished reading her school list, she looked up to her mother smiling. This letter made her birthday complete. Finally, she will be going to school to learn proper magic. Kevin grunted as he finished reading his letter.

"It's official." He said to his mother and sister. "I've been chosen as the fifth year monitor for Coeus." Holding up his badge, he beamed at his sister and mother while they congratulated him. "Not to mention, Professor Hermes and Dean Jarrel approved me for taking an extra class. So on top of keeping my basic five and Muggle and Clerical Studies, I also get to return to Zoology."

"That is wonderful sweetheart, but you must promise that if your grades start slipping in your core classes, you have to drop one of your electives or quidditch."

"Come on mom, you know, I'd drop the entire school into a pit before I give up quidditch." Kevin laughed.

"Very funny," his mother said as she threw a pinch of floo powder into the fire. Once the flames turned green, she handed the jar to Kevin. "I guess now we have to get all of your school stuff while we are at the plaza. We will floo to _Gringott's_."

"If Miss Carolyn would like," Geely piped up, coming to Carolyn's side. "Geely will have Miss's favorite snack waiting when she gets home."

"That is not necessary Geely, we may not return until just before the guests arrive for the party." Mrs. Grace remarked as Kevin stepped into the fireplace. "Just remember to have all of the clothes that we discussed ready when we return."

With that, Kevin called out "_Gringott's_ in the Plaza!" before dropping the powder on the flames and spinning out of sight.

"You are next dear." Mrs. Grace said, handing the jar for Carolyn to grab a handful of powder. As her daughter too spun out of sight, she turned to Geely with a stern look. "And do not go visit the Hornton's house elf while we are gone. You have too much work to do today."

"Yes Missus." Geely said before watching Mrs. Grace disappear from the fireplace.

As Carolyn stepped out of one of the fireplaces in the grand foyer of _Gringott's_ Bank, she started to dust off her cloak and cough out the powder in her mouth. She looked up in time to see her brother finish wiping the soot from his face and her jaw dropped at what else she saw. Just behind her brother, on the other side of the foyer, was a grouping of goblins. A group of wizards bearing the crest of the Auror Department on their robes was with the Goblins. All were somewhat agitated.

"What's going on?" she asked her brother.

"Don't know, just got here too, remember?"

Hearing the fireplace whoosh with another arrival, she turned to see her mother's perfectly clean form step from the grate.

"Are you gonna have to go to work?" Carolyn asked her mother.

"Of course not, you know that I have…" Stopping mid sentence, Mrs. Grace caught sight of the group across the way. "Stay here, I will be right back."

Kevin and Carolyn watched their mother stride across the foyer and pull one of the aurors to the side. After a quick discussion, she nodded and returned to them.

"Well, a bit of excitement, but nothing that needs me. I need to get some money so we can get your things." Mrs. Grace said, clearly agitated from her conversation with the auror.

After a quick trip to the family vault, in which Mrs. Grace filled her purse with Galleons and gave a few to the children, a little more for Carolyn as it was her birthday, the trio left _Gringott's_ by the front doors and stepped into the thoroughfare of the magical plaza. The Plaza was a large area, hidden from muggle eyes that housed many businesses catering to the magical community of Western North Carolina. The only known accesses and escape from the plaza were via apparition or the floo network. Flying in or out of the plaza was strictly prohibited by the Department of Magic as it would be quite easy for muggles to see such magic being used.

Carolyn and her family headed directly to _Hartsford's Haberdashery_ in order to get new robes for the children. Upon entering, a striking young witch approached them.

"Hannah, it's great to see you again." She said as she enveloped Mrs. Grace in a hug. "And Kevin, welcome back. Goodness, I think I'll need to add ten yards to your robes this year."

"Not quite, Ms. Sasha." Kevin grinned turning a bit pink.

"Sasha, how have you been?" Mrs. Grace asked as she removed her cloak.

"Just great, now that dad's gone, I've been able to come back to work. I still can't thank you enough for finding out that it was his brother who cursed him and not mom."

"I just wish I had not needed to arrest your mother in the first place. How is she, by the way?" Mrs. Grace asked genuinely concerned.

"Fine," Sasha answered. "Sad that dad's gone, but relieved not to be facing a lifetime in Bermuda." She gave a small smile. At this, Mrs. Grace decided to change subjects by pulling Carolyn forward.

"Sasha, I would like for you to meet my daughter. Carolyn, this is Sasha Storm, the most talented needle in the world."

"How do you do?" Carolyn asked extending her hand.

"I am well." Sasha said taking the young girl's hand. "Let's see, just starting first year? At Willowood I assume."

"Yes ma'am, I just got my letter."

"Wonderful," Sasha laughed as she took Carolyn's hand in one of hers and wrapped the other one through Kevin's arm. "Come with me you two, I'm going to make you the envy of every student there." With that, she led both Grace children to the dressing area and began measuring both at the same time. In just under an hour Sasha had created five uniform robes for each of the children and sewn their names in each. After affixing the Willowood crest on the right breast of Kevin's final robe, she stood smiling at her work.

"Not bad," she said, "if I do say so myself. But, I think they're still missing something. Be right back." She spun on her heel and dashed into a back room, only to re-emerge a moment later carrying two backpacks that looked slightly furry.

"These are new. I just came up with them myself and haven't begun selling them yet." She winked at Kevin. "Moleskin backpacks. They can carry three times the load of normal school bags and you'll never know you're carrying them." Handing one to each of the children she added, "A gift for you."

As each child took their backpack, they gave Sasha their thanks and a quick hug. Sasha stepped back quickly and pulled out her wand, pointing it first to Carolyn's then to Kevin's backpack. Each child marveled as their names appeared on the flap and the Grace family's crest on the body of the bags.

After paying for their robes, the family then headed to back to the street to begin buying school supplies before heading to _Zadow's Family Restaurant_, where they were to meet Mrs. Grace's sister Angela for lunch. At _Barnaby's Book Emporium_, all of their textbooks were on several displays, anticipating the back to school sales. Kevin picked up a couple of extra books aside from his texts, which included his sophomore zoology text: _Taming the Beasts_ by Miarmsa Stump. From there they proceeded to _Cauldron Supplies and Apothecary_ to pick up their basic potion ingredients and a new cauldron and set of scales for Carolyn. After their trip to _Stellar Sights_, Carolyn dragged them into _Magical Animals and Familiars_ to pick out a familiar.

"Hello there," said the plump wizard behind the counter. "How may I help you today?"

"Hello Mr. Howell," Kevin said. "I need some carrots for Brando, and my sister is here to pick out her own familiar."

"Wonderful," the clerk said. "And how is that rabbit of yours sir?" he asked Kevin bringing a large bag of carrots onto the counter.

"I think he's been a bit under the weather. He turned himself into a top hat the other day, and refuses to change back unless it's time to eat."

"Oh, not to worry about that," said Mr. Howell. "It sounds like he's just lonely. He'll be fine once you get back to school and he can see Molly Girl again." Molly was Natalee Leon's rabbit. It seemed that Molly was just as much Brando's girlfriend as Natalee was Kevin's girlfriend.

"Now, how can I help you Miss Grace?" Mr. Howell asked, coming around the counter to speak with Carolyn.

"I'm not sure yet. Can I have a moment?" she said looking around at all of the animals.

After choosing her familiar, a swallow-tailed kite, she named Alcina, Carolyn and her family stopped to enjoy a nice light lunch at _Zadow's_ with Aunt Angela. From there, Kevin cajoled his mother into taking him to _Xiang's Magical Transport_ so that he could buy himself a new broom servicing kit and stare longingly at the Firebolt II on display. Following that, Carolyn finally arrived at the one place she had wanted to shop her entire life. _Wands of Wander_ was by far the best place in the world for quality wands. Witches and wizards quite often bypassed other local wand shops, sometimes coming from overseas to buy their first wands here. Unlike older wand makers, such as Ollivander in England or the late Gregorovitch in Bulgaria, Wesley Wallace did not pre-make wands. Each wand created and sold by Wallace was custom made for the witch or wizard, to whom it would belong.

"Welcome," said a cheery voice as the family entered the small shop. "Ah, the Grace family, come to brighten my shop yet again." Carolyn smiled at this warm welcome and eagerly ran up to the counter. "And you must be Carolyn. Well, I hope that the wand you create today is just as useful and capable as the ones your parents and brother made."

"That I create?" Carolyn asked confused. "I thought you made them for us."

"Oh, I do play a small role. You see, I merely assemble the wand that you yourself create. And you create your wand by being chosen by its components."

"Being chosen by its…" her confusion only deepened. She turned back to her mother who was smiling and her brother who came closer to smirking than smiling. "I'm afraid you lost me." She said turning back to Wallace.

"Oh, quite understandable. Let me explain. Each wand is custom made for the witch or wizard who will use it. In order for it to be made however, each component of the wand, the shaft, the handle, the core, and any accessories, must choose the witch or wizard."

"But how do they choose? Aren't they just bits of wood and magical ingredients?" Carolyn asked still a bit confused.

"In a sense, yes, but in a greater sense, absolutely not. You see, the woods used in making wands come from trees, shrubs, and flowers that have magical properties. These are called wand-producing plants. Likewise for the gemstones and metals that are used for some wands. Of course, as you know the core of each wand consists of a bit of some magical creature. We use dragon heartstring, unicorn tail, phoenix tail feather, Veela hair, leprechaun hair, gryphon mane hair, and hippogriff feather. We have also recently begun using werewolf fur and troll hair, as it is becoming safer to acquire them." Wallace said proudly.

"But how do they choose me? Shouldn't it be me who chooses them?"

"Well," Wallace smiled. "Normally, with most things this would be true. Remember though, your wand will likely be the single most powerful magical item you will ever own. Magic has a way of sensing how it will be used and by whom. When the wand components sense you, the magic in them will know best not only who you are, but also who you will become, and how you will use it. The magic then helps to shape your wand so that you will be able to use it to your best advantage."

"Ok, so how do the wand components choose me?"

"Simply by being near you. Let's begin with the shaft," he said opening a huge book on the counter. "Just hold your wand hand over the book here. This has a small sliver of every wood we use for our wands."

Carolyn did as she was told, holding her right hand over the book. Immediately the pages flashed past her hand stopping in the middle of the book. She looked down to see several pieces of wood on the page below her hand, but only one piece was trying to escape its spot to come to her.

"Mahogany shaft. Right. I'll be right back." Wallace said disappearing through a door behind the counter. A few moments later, he returned carrying several dozen shafts ranging in length from three inches to nearly two feet.

"Once again, hold out your wand hand over these shafts." Wallace prompted her.

Carolyn then held her hand over the shafts moving from one to another until one in the middle leapt into her palm.

"Excellent! Ten and a half inches." Waving his hand over the rest, the remaining shafts flew back through the door behind the counter. "Next, the handle. Normally, this is unnecessary, but sometimes, like with your mother, the handle must be made of a different wood. So, if you please…" he gestured to the book again, "…the handle.

Again, Carolyn held her right hand over the book and the pages began turning again. Finally coming to rest on the very last page. A dark reddish brown piece was trying to escape the page.

"As I suspected another multi-wood wand. This handle will be rowan," he smiled up at Mrs. Grace, "As similar as you and your daughter are, it seems that she too will be a witch of her own making. Your wand was mahogany and yew correct?"

"Yes Mr. Wallace." Mrs. Grace answered smiling.

Again, Wallace went into the room behind the counter and returned with a couple of dozen rowan handles of varying designs. "Your hand please." He gestured to Carolyn.

As she slowly waved her hand over the handles, Carolyn noticed that some of the designs were quite sinister looking, one with a snake head design shifted slightly as she passed her hand over it and she quickly moved on. Finally, as she was nearing the end, a handle with a beveled design jumped into her hand.

"Excellent, my dear," Wallace said as he picked up a box sitting on a shelf nearby. Once he placed the box on the counter, he opened it and asked Carolyn to, once again, place her wand hand over it. Without hesitation, she did so and watched as a silvery hair floated up to her.

"And a unicorn hair for the core." Wallace announced proudly.

After placing the box behind the counter, he assembled a collection of tools and the components of what would be Carolyn's wand. First, he took a very long needle and placed a bit of the unicorn hair through the eye. He then began pushing the needle into the fat end of the shaft, all the way until a good three inches of the needle poked out of the tip. He then grabbed the end at the tip and pulled the needle completely through. Carolyn watched as her unicorn hair disappeared into the end of the shaft and fully expected to see it emerge from the tip when Wallace pulled the needle out, but the needle emerged alone.

Next, Wallace affixed the handle onto the shaft and muttered a quick spell. The handle sealed itself to the shaft securely. Wallace then held the wand out to Carolyn. "Now, my dear, if you will please take your wand in your hand." He said.

As she held her wand in her hand for the first time, a cool breeze came across her and the wand tip glowed before the shaft began twisting itself into a tight spiral. In a matter of seconds, the winds ceased and her wand stopped glowing. She now held what looked like a red wooden unicorn horn in her hand.

"Is that normal?" Carolyn asked looking at her twisted wand.

"Yes, of course. In the process of creating a wand, as it's assembled, the wood will often reform itself to reflect the power it holds. Some twist, some bend, some bubble, and some do nothing at all."

"Can I try a spell?" Carolyn asked excited.

"Why?" Wallace asked. "We've already seen that the wand has accepted you."

"Yes, but I just want to try-"

"Now Carolyn, you will have plenty of time to use your wand at school." Her mother interrupted. "Besides, I am certain that Mr. Wallace has much to do today."

Disappointed, Carolyn gently placed her wand in the box that Wallace had produced. While their mother paid for the wand, Kevin and Carolyn waited by the door.

"It really is an awesome wand sis." Kevin smiled at her.

"It is indeed, Mr. Grace," Wallace said as he walked their mother to the door. "I should warn you though that the wand is merely an extension and a focus for your own magic. Use it well, and it will never disappoint you, Miss. Grace." He said as he opened the door for them.

Carolyn nodded as her mother ushered them from the store. As they walked back towards _Gringott's_, Carolyn once again took her wand from its box, admiring the feel of it in her hand.

As they headed back down the street to _Gringott's_, Mrs. Grace spotted some of the aurors that were there earlier.

"Stay here children, I will be right back."

As their mother walked off, Carolyn began twirling her wand between her fingers. Excited over finally having a wand she wondered what spells she could cast.

"Kevin," Carolyn began, once her mother was safely out of earshot. "How do you cast the levitation spell?"

"You're not supposed to do magic away from school. You know that." Her brother said looking around the Plaza.

"But I haven't even started school yet. I still need to send in my confirmation letter, so technically…" she trailed off, hoping he could see where she was going.

"If we get in trouble for this, I'm gonna pop you in the head with a cauldron." Kevin said smiling at her. He quickly explained the wand movements and incantation for levitating an object. When he had given her the information she needed, Carolyn began looking around for something to levitate. Finally, she spotted a small cauldron outside _Cauldron Supplies_.

_I may as well make it easy for him to grab a cauldron_, Carolyn thought to herself.

"Remember," her brother, said, "swish and flick. Don't forget to concentrate, and don't worry if it doesn't work, you've never cast a spell with a wand before."

"I've got it," she replied, just a bit annoyed. Pointing her wand at the cauldron, she gave a slight swish and flicked her wand in the direction of the cauldron. "Wingardium leviosa." She said. Slowly the cauldron began to float upwards until it was nearly three foot off the ground.

"Nice," Kevin was saying. "It took me forever to get a feather to-"

"CAROLYN MARIE GRACE!" her mother called from a few feet away. Frightened at the tone in her mother's voice, Carolyn spun quickly, while still holding her wand aloft. The last thing she remembered was her mother screaming just as something hit her in the back of the head.


	3. Ch 02: Good News and Bad News

**Chapter Two:**

**Good News and Bad News**

Everything seemed blurry when Carolyn opened her eyes. As things slowly came into focus, she looked around to see who was foolish enough to be ringing those bells.

"You're awake," someone said beside her. She turned her head further and saw Kevin beside her bed. "Mom's in the administrator's office, the Auror Department had an emergency call for her."

"You didn't really have to hit me with a cauldron." Carolyn smiled at her brother. "How much trouble are we in?"

"You've been out since this time yesterday, you're safe. I'm grounded though."

Carolyn winced at the thought of her parents punishing her brother for something she did. When she tried to sit up, the entire planet shifted on its axis and nothing was holding still. Kevin had his hand on her shoulder in an instant keeping her steady and preventing her from falling out of bed.

"Careful, still dizzy?" he asked worried.

"Yeah, just a little. I need you to do me a favor," she whispered gasping for breath. "Find the phantom that keeps slamming the wall into my head and banish him."

Kevin gave a small chuckle as he helped his sister sit up straight. "I'll be right back. I need to get a healer." He said going to the door. As he stepped out, Carolyn noticed for the first time that she was not at home at all. Judging by the sea foam green walls and some of the smells she was just becoming aware of, she must be at T of H Hospital. Giving a small groan, she covered her eyes with her palms, trying to keep the pain at bay, until she heard the door open again. Looking up she saw her mother entering looking frustrated, followed by a man in healer's robes, her father, and her brother.

"Oh thank heavens you are awake," her mother said coming to Carolyn's bedside. "You had us scared for a bit. How do you feel? Does your head hurt? Are you dizzy? Do you know what day it is? Can you-"

"Mrs. Grace..." the healer said behind her, "...please allow me to look after your daughter."

"I'm just-"

"I know you are concerned, but as I am being paid to do so regardless, would it not be better for me to check her?" the healer asked only slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry doctor, my wife and I tend to be overly protective of the children." Carolyn's father said from behind her mother. "Darling, please…" he said gently pulling her mother aside so the healer could get a good look at her.

"Hello Carolyn," he began as he bent to look into her eyes. "My name is Healer Montgomery. Do you know where you are?"

"T of H?" Carolyn answered, unsure.

"Yes, Testament of Hippocrates Hospital, and do you know why you are here?" he asked as he gently moved his fingers across the back of her head.

"Yes. My brother and I got in trouble, so I saved him the trouble of hitting me in the head with a cauldron."

Kevin snorted in the corner and the healer gave a chuckle. "Well, it seems that your sense of humor is intact, let's try your reflexes." With that, he conjured a small rubber hammer, and tapped the crook of her elbows and the just below her kneecaps, each time eliciting a slight jump in the limb. "Excellent. Does your head still hurt?"

"Yes," Carolyn answered, "and I have some ringing."

"Have you experienced dizziness since you woke?"

"Yes, when I sat up." She said with a sigh.

The healer smiled as he straightened. "That's to be expected. I'm going to give you a potion to take now, and another flask to take home with you. Take the second one before going to bed tonight."

Carolyn nodded as the healer walked out the door, presumably to get the potions. She looked over to her mother and father, who were visibly relieved. She held her arms open toward them and they rushed into them.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." She whimpered into her mother's shoulder. "And please don't punish Kevin, it was all my fault, I wanted to test my wand."

Her father patted her back as her mother told her, "It is ok sweetie, you are safe, and that is all that matters."

When they finally broke apart, it was to find that the healer had returned with two bottles, one large one with smoke issuing from the top, and a smaller one with a stopper. The healer walked over and gave Carolyn the smoking potion.

"Now, it smells like old socks," he said, "and the taste will make you think that old socks would be delicious in comparison, but you will be right as rain in no time."

Carolyn held the bottle up to her nose and thought that the healer must be crazy. Old socks never smelled this bad. She reluctantly tipped the bottle to her lips and began swallowing. Almost instantly, the pain eased in her head and the ringing in her ears stopped. Too bad, she now felt like vomiting from the taste of the potion. She handed the bottle back to the healer just in time to pass out again.

The next morning Carolyn awoke in her own room. After passing out again, a side effect of the potion, her parents had taken her home via the Wizard Coach, a taxi service to convey witches and wizards who were unable to fly, apparate, or floo to their destinations. A short while after they arrived home, Carolyn awoke again to find a frantic Geely at her bedside, wringing her hands. Carolyn spent the few hours that she was awake last night trying to convince her mother to repeal Kevin's punishment, to no avail. This morning, she would try again, after all, how could her mother punish Kevin for something she had caused?

"Miss Carolyn!" Geely squeaked as she entered Carolyn's room. "You must get back in bed. Geely will gets miss what she needs."

Carolyn smiled at the loving house elf as she headed for her closet to get a fresh change of clothes. "Honestly Geely, I'm feeling much better. I have a lot of stuff to do and I can't lie in bed all day."

Geely followed Carolyn to the closet taking everything Carolyn pulled out and re-hanging it. After a few moments of this, Carolyn became frustrated. Finally, she pulled a shirt and pair of slacks down and turned to look Geely in the eye.

"Geely, I love you and I am so glad that you want to take care of me, but I do feel better, and I need to get dressed so I can talk to mother. If you really want to help me could you fix me some breakfast while I bathe?"

Geely looked properly chastised and with her nose pointing to the ground, raised her eyes to Carolyn. "Geely has already fixed miss's breakfast. I was bringing it to miss when I see miss up and stressing herself."

Carolyn immediately felt bad for reprimanding the loveable house elf and smiled down to her. Kneeling, she gave Geely a hug and asked her, "Then how about while I enjoy breakfast, you go draw me a bath?"

Smiling and practically hopping with excitement the house elf agreed. "Right away miss and Geely will have miss's presents in her room as soon as she is done bathing."

"That sounds great Geely," Carolyn said, laughing at the elf. Before she opened the door, however, Geely looked back at Carolyn.

"Does Miss Carolyn promise Geely that she will be careful today and not tire herself?"

"Yes Geely I will." Carolyn said as she stuffed a piece of bacon in her mouth.

An hour later, after eating, bathing, and letting Alcina out to hunt, Carolyn emerged from her room well fed, clean, and dressed. Halfway down the stairs, she heard her mother's voice coming from the living room along with the deep resonating voice of a man she didn't recognize. Stopping to decide if it were wise to interrupt her mother's conversation, Carolyn caught part of what her mother and guest were saying.

"-cannot possibly decide now," she heard her mother saying. "The children are starting school in less than a month and Carolyn was just injured yesterday."

"I completely understand Hannah," the stranger replied. "But you are in a unique position here. Both of your children will be away at school for the better part of a year, over the next seven years, you will find yourself unencumbered. You must finally do what is right for you, what is best for you."

"What you are asking for involves more than just taking my time Rolf," her mother said frustrated. "Give me until September to decide, that's all I ask."

There was a slight pause before the man named Rolf spoke again. "What about next week? Will you go to Pennsylvania? I'm not ashamed to admit that I will need you there."

"I doubt seriously that you need me," her mother replied. "After all, you have so many at your disposal. Candace, for instance, would love to go."

"Please." Rolf spat sounding disgusted. "She is nowhere near as talented as she claims, and I would rather run naked through the streets than to have her anywhere nearby."

This seemed to cheer her mother up a bit, as she let out a loud laugh before finally agreeing. "Ok Rolf. I'll go to Pennsylvania, but no pressuring me to decide about the campaign."

"Excellent," Rolf sounded pleased. "I have to go now, but I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Yes, I will be in tomorrow. Good-bye Rolf." After a few moments, Carolyn realized that no one would be coming out of the living room, so she continued down the stairs. As she expected, she found her mother sitting alone in the living room, a small fire in the fireplace indicated that her mother had obviously been using it to have a floo conversation with a co-worker.

"You are awake," Mrs. Grace said, looking up as Carolyn entered. "How do you feel today?"

"Better," Carolyn answered. "Did I hear you on the floo? I didn't interrupt did I?"

"Yes and no. It was a colleague of mine. Apparently, I have to go to Pennsylvania next week."

"Next week," it had just occurred to Carolyn that that would be inconvenient. "Mom, next week is when we're supposed to go to Fredericksburg. We haven't been to Grace Manor in years."

"I know darling, and I will make it up to the three of you, but it is important that I go to Pennsylvania." Sighing, her mother rose and walked over to the fireplace to extinguish the flames. "You know if it were not important, I would not go."

"I know I was just looking forward to it. We haven't had a vacation together in forever."

"I know sweetie, and I promise that when you get out for next summer, the first thing we are going to do is have a vacation with the whole family."

Carolyn went over and hugged her mother tightly. "I do know how you can make it up to me for now though."

"Oh?" Mrs. Grace asked, pulling Carolyn to arms length and raising an eyebrow. "How is that?"

"You could take Kevin off of punishment. He had nothing to do with me getting hurt."

Mrs. Grace sighed. "Carolyn, I am sorry, but I cannot. Kevin's punishment is not for your injury. He is being punished for allowing you to use magic without _proper_ supervision, and for encouraging you to do so."

"But mom, he told me I wasn't allowed to, I had to talk him into it," Carolyn whined.

"I am sorry, the answer is no."

"Then let me share his punishment since I'm mostly responsible."

"You have already been punished with that knot on your head and a stay in the hospital," her mother replied clearly getting frustrated with her daughter. "Besides, it is not such a bad punishment. All he is doing is cleaning and organizing the attic without magic. He should be done by tonight."

Carolyn sighed in frustration, but finally acquiesced. As she started back up the stairs, her mother stopped her asking, "Did you by chance answer your Willowood letter? Kevin sent his in yesterday while you were unconscious."

"No," Carolyn said rushing back downstairs. "I completely forgot. Do you know where it is?"

"Upstairs on your desk. And after that, you may as well open all of your presents, since we missed your party."

"Ok mom," Carolyn called running up the stairs.

Before her daughter made it up half of the flight, Hannah Grace heard Geely call out after her, "Miss Carolyn, you promised Geely! Stop that running now before you gets hurt!"

Twenty minutes later after sending her acceptance letter to Willowood by Alcina, Carolyn found herself climbing the stairs to the attic to check on Kevin. What she found when she entered was her brother with his nose stuck in a book, with dozens more books surrounding him.

"Only you would end up reading when you're supposed to be cleaning," she said walking up to him.

Looking up he broke into a smile. "It's no problem, the attic's not in bad shape anyway, so I figured I'd go through these and see if there were any I wanted to keep."

Looking around, Carolyn saw that he was right, everything seemed well organized, with just a few things scattered about and a layer of dust all around. Curious, she plopped down next to her brother and began going through the books he had around him. Most looked like old textbooks, but a few of them were literary works by both muggle and wizard authors. She picked up one thin book and frowned as she saw the title.

"Tales of Beedle the Bard," She asked. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Dad used to read that to us all of the time." Kevin replied not even glancing up from his book. "Take that one if you want, there are two copies up here."

Putting the book down, Carolyn rose and began looking around for a place to start.

"Alright brother dear," she said. "It's time to get up and start. We'll get this knocked out quickly and then take your books to your room. Then you can help me open my presents."

Kevin looked up at his sister's serious face and broke into a grin. Setting the book aside, he picked up the old dust rag he was using and joined her at the end of the attic.

"I hope you brought something to clean with, I only have the one cloth." With that, Carolyn pulled out her wand and winked at him. "Hah. No." he said firmly

"Come on, mom said you had to clean without magic, she never said a word about me."

"Oh. My. God." Kevin said mouth slightly agape. "You just got out of the hospital and I'm currently in trouble because you used underage magic, and now you want to do more?"

"It's just one simple cleaning charm. Come on teach me?" she wheedled.

"No," he said with a smirk, "but you're right, a bit of magic is needed here." Seeing her face light up, Kevin pulled out his own wand and gave it a flick. "Accio cloth." In an instant, another cleaning cloth came flying through the attic door straight at Kevin, who stepped out of the way just in time for the cloth to sail past him and land right on Carolyn's head.

"Very funny," she said, pulling the cloth from her face. Kevin burst out in laughter as a defeated Carolyn began picking up random items and wiping them off.

Her brother was right however, there was nothing much to do, over the next hour and a half, the two of them wiped everything down and organized the few items that were strewn about. Afterwards, Carolyn swept the floors while Kevin cleaned the only two windows in the attic. When they had finished cleaning, Carolyn stood to look around checking if there were something, they had missed. She suddenly tripped over something as she took a step backwards, scanning the area at the back of the attic. In an instant Kevin was there helping her to her feet, checking to see if she was hurt.

"Did you hit your head? What happened? Are you ok? Can you hear me? What-"

"Kevin," she exclaimed, trying to get him quiet long enough to answer his questions, "stop! I just tripped, and no, I'm not hurt." Looking down, she saw what she had tripped over, and bent to pick it up. Lying just under the corner of an old dresser was yet another book. As Carolyn picked it up and opened it, she saw that it was her mother's diary from 1973. Opening it, she saw that the first entry was Saturday, September 1.

"Oh my goodness," she said. "Kevin, this is mom's diary from her first year at Willowood."

"Then put it back or in that dresser. I don't think she'd want you reading her private stuff."

"No, I wanna know what she was like in school."

"Oh come on Car. How would you feel if someone else read your diary?" Kevin said, clearly becoming uncomfortable over the subject. "Put it away and help me get the rest of this cleaning done."

Carolyn gave her brother a sour look saying, "First, the cleaning is done, and second I don't keep a diary. Besides, I don't think mom would mind. She's always telling us about the fun she had in school. I think it would be cool to learn about it from her as it happened."

"Tell you what," Kevin said taking the diary from his sister. "Ask mom, if she says it's ok, then come back and get it. If not, leave it alone." With that, he placed the book in the top drawer of the dresser and led Carolyn out of the attic.

Carolyn and Kevin spent the next couple of hours opening her presents, with her trying on the clothes she received from their grandma Mercer, Mrs. Grace's mother. Carolyn received many packages of sweets from her cousins. Her aunts and uncles had made certain she had plenty of supplies for school, but her favorite gift was from her brother, a brand new broomstick, a Comet HVF. This model promised to bring the Comets back in vogue and challenge the Firebolt as the premier competitive broom in all wizarding sports.

Carolyn could not believe her eyes and jumped up hugging her brother, begging him to take her to the flight area so she could try it out. Kevin promised that he would take her the next day, but wanted her to rest for the rest of today, considering the injury she had just suffered. Their dad joined them a short time later, stopping only long enough to banish the spent wrapping paper before giving his children a hug each.

"So," he began. "Good news and bad news. First, I have taken all of August off, so if you guys are willing, we can spend the entire month at Grace Hill."

"Excellent," said Kevin. "All the flying we want to do and no worries about muggles seeing us for a whole month. Sounds great. Wait, what's the bad news?"

"Unfortunately, your mother has been assigned to Pennsylvania again. It's only-" Mr. Grace tried to speak over his children's groans, "It's only supposed to be for a week," he said.

"I guess a week won't be so bad, so when do we leave?" Carolyn asked, pretending that she didn't already know of her mother's assignment. She had been hoping her mother would change her mind about that.

"Ten days, which means that we need to figure out what we want to do all month," he said getting up. "Oh, and we'll have some of your cousins visiting with us as well. Grand Uncle Gaspar has invited all of his grand children to visit, so there'll be at least 14 school age Graces there for the month."

As he started out the door, Carolyn stopped her father asking, "Daddy. Can Kevin and I go to the flight area to try out my new broom?"

"We have a few hours before dinner," he said looking at the clock on her wall. "Let me get my broom, and we'll all go."

Carolyn never even tried to hide the smirk she shot her brother, as their father overruled his concerns.

The next five hours were spent at the Piedmont Acres Designated Flight Area, an area several miles from the town in a magically protected location that prevented muggles from accidentally seeing witches and wizards flying on their broomsticks or doors. Originally setup as an arrival point for witches and wizards unable to apparate, it is most commonly used by the younger generation to practice flying for their chosen sports at school or in preparation for a hopeful sports career. Carolyn's broom performed amazingly, easily out running her father's and keeping up with Kevin's Firebolt. By the time they had had enough, Carolyn was wishing desperately that Willowood might rescind their rule barring private brooms for sixth graders.

After a delicious dinner, that Geely prepared specifically to cater for Carolyn, Mr. Grace retired to the den to work on setting everything up for their vacation next month. Meanwhile, Kevin returned to his room, where he had put the old books he found in the attic and Carolyn returned to the attic for the one book that she was interested in.

Secluding herself in her room, she opened the first page and began reading:

_September 1, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_We finally made it to Willowood. Jake found out a few ways for us to sneak out and visit Weeping Meadows before classes start on Monday. There's a new joke shop he read about in the Times, that he wants to check out._

Carolyn couldn't believe what she had just read. Her own mother, not even a full day at Willowood and she was already anticipating breaking the rules. This had to be someone else's diary and not the same woman who had just went nuts the day before and punished her brother today because of one little incident of underage magic.

_I saw that jerk again that made Jake nearly miss the bus. I found out he's a seventh grader and the girl I talked to, I think her name is Keller, said everyone is so gaga over him. Just wait until I learn a few good hexes, I'll put George Grace in his place. I have to go now, Jake's coming down to the lounge and we're gonna try out one of the secret doors that he heard about. With luck, I'll have a few things from town in an hour or so._

_Love,_

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood School for Magic (Sixth Grade)_

Well, that settled it. This was definitely her mother's diary. Strange, her mother never mentioned her school hood friend Jake before. Stranger still, at least to Carolyn was that her mother seemed not to like her father back then. Carolyn was itching to find out more about her mother's now apparent reckless childhood, but just as she turned the page, a knock came at her door.

"Come in," she called, stuffing the diary under her pillow. Geely entered carrying a tray of cookies and milk.

"Geely brought miss a snack for bedtime, and a message from Master Grace," Geely said as she sat the tray on the nightstand. "Master says to remind the children to pack all of their school stuffs before we leaves for Virginia. Miss Carolyn and Master Kevin will goes straight to school from there."

"Thanks Geely," she replied. "I'll get started on it in the morning. Will you help me?"

"Of course, Miss. Geely would love to help." The elf looked up at Carolyn and suddenly her eyes got wetter and wetter.

"Geely, what's wrong?" kneeling down to be eye level with the elf, Carolyn placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Geely is sorry Miss," The house elf answered. "It's just that Miss will be going away to school soon, and Geely hasn't been away from you since you was borned. Geely is just feeling lonely now."

"But Geely, I won't be leaving for school for another month, and you're coming to Fredericksburg with us…" She trailed off seeing that her words were having no effect on her faithful servant's tears.

"Geely knows Miss. Geely felt the same when Master Kevin left for school, but was ok because you got to stay here with Geely. Now, no more children for Geely to take care of, so I feeling extra lonely this time."

"Oh Geely," Carolyn said pulling Geely into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you so much too. I wish I could take you to school with me, but if I did that, who would take care of mommy and dad?"

Soon, the elf was soothed enough to go on about her routines and Carolyn enjoyed her snack before lying down. It wasn't until she was very nearly asleep that she remembered the diary under her pillow. Sliding her hand underneath, she promised herself to read some more of it tomorrow, after she packed for school.

The next week was spent in a frenzy of everyone preparing for their departures. Mrs. Grace, who would be going to Pennsylvania, spent much of her time in the office making certain her active cases were transferred to competent aurors. Mr. Grace had finished the final designs on the Mason house, making certain that all of the modifications his clients wanted were made. The children spent their first day, Friday, packing all of their school clothes and supplies into old-fashioned steamer trunks. Carolyn had sneaked back up to the attic to search for more of her mother's or possibly her father's diaries. She found all of her mother's diaries from school, but nothing of her father's. She assumed that he had not kept a diary in school.

For the remainder of their weekend, she and Kevin spent a great deal of time at the flight area helping Kevin and his friends practice for this year's Quidditch tryouts. Kevin was hoping to leave the position of keeper for the more prestigious role of chaser this year, so he had to work on his handling of the quaffle. Kevin's dorm mate, Darion Parker, a senior, was also trying out for chaser this year, so Carolyn partnered up with Peyton Mendez, a freshman boy from Eurus Dorm to act as beaters for the group.

A neighbor who worked at Barnaby's Book Emporium, in Charlotte, acted as keeper over the weekend. Carolyn found out his name was Tim Turner and that he had always wanted to play professional Quidditch, but never had the right speed or coordination. This fact showed as Kevin, Darion, and another sophomore from the Dinlas Dorm, Quincy Rader, ended up scoring nearly every time. On the weekdays, they managed to talk Mr. Welch, who was a Sky Surfing coach for the Bowman Academy, to give up his door for a broomstick and play keeper for them. Mr. Welch was much better than Mr. Turner as he was build just like the doors he flew, flat, solid, and barred entrance to any opening the chasers tried to find.

Throughout the week, Carolyn picked up a great many pointers from Peyton and sometimes from Kevin and Quincy as well, on how to better aim her swings with the beater's bats to send the bludgers off on paths that would intersect their targets. By the 29th, she had gotten so good that her brother and the other two chasers were dropping the quaffle more and more often as they dodged her attacks.

On the evening of the 30th, Kevin and Carolyn double-checked their bags and trunks to make certain they had everything they would need for their trip and for school. That evening, they were sitting in the living room with their father, as their mother was still at work.

"You should see her dad," Kevin was saying. "I swear she hits like a cannon firing. I'm going to fail the tryouts because she wouldn't let any of us get close enough to the rings to practice our throws."

Mr. Grace was laughing at his son's exaggerations of his daughter's performance. "Well, you did say that you and your friends taught her," he chuckled, "maybe you should try out for your dorm team Pumpkin."

It was Carolyn's turn to laugh now. "Yeah right dad. Sixth graders don't play Quidditch. It's against the rules."

"Says who?"

"Name me one sixth grader who plays Quidditch," she challenged.

"Well, no one."

"There," she said.

"But," her father continued, "about ten years ago, Harry Potter did."

Now Carolyn practically fell off the sofa laughing. "Right daddy. After all, I have so much in common with Harry Potter. What with Voldemort chasing after me, playing Quidditch at eleven shouldn't be a problem, right."

She never noticed the slight flinch her father gave at the sound of Voldemort's name. Voldemort had been a horrible dark wizard that had terrorized England for several decades, until a few years ago when a young boy, barely 17 years old at the time, stopped him in a tremendous battle in Scotland. Witches and wizards, even those who lived in different countries had feared him and his power, and for many, his name still brought on a sense of fear and foreboding.

"Well," her father said, steering himself away from his morbid thoughts, "you may not have dark wizards chasing you about, but I'd bet my last Galleon that if you tried out for your team, you'd fair quite well. Even if you didn't make the team, from what your brother says, you'd make quite an impression."

"Whatever dad," Carolyn said still giggling at the concept. "I might, but I have a feeling that the class work is gonna keep me too busy to worry about sports."

"Not to mention all of the boys and parties and gossip sessions in the girl's dorms," her brother chipped in.

"The parties, I can deal with, but the other two? Ew and Ew." Carolyn said so seriously that her father and brother both fell over in fits of laughter. Soon, she too was laughing picturing herself surrounded by other girls with their hair in curlers, discussing the love lives of everyone in the school.

Later that night, Carolyn was just getting into bed when she noticed her mother's diary on the nightstand. In the preceding week, she had failed to read any of it except for that first entry. She grabbed the book and opened it to its second passage.

_September 2, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

We_ were caught last night. Jake and I found the secret door out of Willowood and made it all the way to Weasley's just before they closed. There was a dumpy little witch in there, and when she turned around, she asked us if we were students. We tried to tell her we wouldn't be until next year, but she didn't believe us, insisted on talking to our parents. Turns out, she's a teacher here, so now we have to put up with detention for the next few weeks. On top of that mom send both of us a howler for getting in trouble our first day._

_If that weren't enough, that Grace idiot was in the lounge gloating when we got hauled back to the dorms. Remind me to fix something particularly unpleasant for him soon. I can't believe my bad luck in ending up in the same dorm with such a know-it-all. Anyway, I'm heading to detention with Ms. Hags. I'll write more later._

_Love,_

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood School for Magic (Sixth Grade)_

Carolyn was nearly in tears as she laughed. Reading her mom's old diary was a brilliant idea. _As long as I don't get detention my first night, I'll stay ahead of mom,_ she thought as she turned the page and began the next entry.

_September 3, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

Our classes started today. Right off the bat, we had Ms. Hags for Herbology. I think I killed my snapdragons, but it doesn't matter, the old crone would have failed me for something anyway. History of Magic wasn't so bad. Mrs. Reed started out telling us about the Goblin wars in Europe and Asia, but she promised that we'd be learning about some of the magical problems in America by Christmas. Mr. Pruitt started our alchemy classes, teaching us how to make a simple anti-cough potion. It was a little boring, but things should pick up before long.

_Speaking of Ms. Hags, Jake and I had to go out to the greenhouses last night and pot those stupid snapdragons for today's class. Tonight we'll probably have to water petunias or something. Honestly, I thought Herbology was going to teach us about magical plants and stuff. Hags is so clueless, I think she's a squib, hiding the fact she doesn't know magic. Anyway, Jake's probably down in the lounge, so I gotta go meet him and head for dinner._

_Love,_

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood School for Magic (Sixth Grade)_

Carolyn closed the diary, thinking to herself. She couldn't believe that the same woman who was always telling her to obey rules and be respectful was the same eleven-year-old brat from the diary. She also began wondering about her partner in crime, Jake. _I wonder what ever happened to him,_ She thought._ Mom never talks about him at all. They must have had a falling out or something._ Carolyn got out of bed and stuffed the diary in her bags to take to Fredericksburg with her. She was hoping to have it all read before they left for school, but from the plans her father made, she doubted she'd get through much of it over the next month.

As she drifted off to sleep that night, she pictured her mother at school, with her hair in curlers, and talking about boys. Her last thoughts before she went to sleep were of the Hannah Mercer from the diary, probably putting itching powder in the other girls' makeup instead of sharing gossip with them.


	4. Ch 03: The Power of the Ring

**Chapter Three:**

**The Power of the Ring**

The morning of July 31, was a hectic one. Mrs. Grace was trying to make certain that everyone packed while giving parting instructions to Geely. Mr. Grace was still trying to convince his wife to send someone else on her assignment. Kevin was frantically trying to find his Quidditch robes, and all the while, Carolyn was watching the commotion wondering why her brother didn't plan better.

"Please darling," her father was saying as both her parents entered the kitchen. "If all you are going to be doing is security work for the Secretary, why can't someone else go?"

"We have been over this before, George." Her mother's impatience was starting to show, and as Carolyn knew, this was not a good sign. "The world knows that Secretary Grayson has close ties to the Guardians. There have been some elements, who have wanted to get to them through him. Liberty thinks that Rolf and I are the best suited to protect him this week. Don't worry, I'll be finished in time for the festivities, and be in Fredericksburg before you know it."

"Surely there are a couple of aurors who have more experience with protection details," George retorted. "You know how important this trip to Grace Hill is."

"There likely are, but few who would or could react quickly enough in the event of an assassination attempt. Moreover, if I turn this assignment down, it could place me lower in the rankings to replace Liberty when and if she leaves."

"Politics," Mr. Grace spat. "This is why I design homes for muggles."

Smiling and turning to her husband, Mr. Grace wrapped her arms around his neck. "No dear, you design muggle homes because you love it and because you are absolutely brilliant at it." The compliment did its work and brought a smile to the face of Carolyn's father.

"Mom, I found my robes, but I can't find my trunk!" Kevin shouted as he came down the stairs.

"Beside the door with all the rest," her mother sighed letting go of her husband. "Is that the last of your stuff?"

Throwing his robes into his trunk and locking it, Kevin looked around. "I think so. Oh, I'm also taking some of your and dad's old textbooks to read on weekends."

"Fine dear, just do not lose any of them, and make certain that you ignore any notes you find in your father's old books"

"Hey!"

Carolyn laughed bringing everyone's attention to her. "What?" she asked. "I have all my stuff packed, and none of dad's books."

While her mother giggled, her father gave her a mock pout and settled in for a bit of breakfast before he had to bid his wife farewell. Mrs. Grace was scheduled to leave first in just under an hour by official car. Mr. Grace and the children would be leaving by the Wizard Coach a few minutes later. Now that Kevin's crisis was at an end, the entire family sat down to a nice breakfast and discussed what they would be doing while they were apart. In no time, they heard a knock on the door, and a deep resonating voice call out for Mrs. Grace.

"Hannah. It's Rolf Spittori. May I come in?"

Hannah jumped up from the table as Geely opened the door and bowed in their visitor.

"Rolf, Come in please. Geely, please get Mr. Spittori a cup of coffee." Mr. Grace said as he too rose to greet Mr. Spittori. "Come in and have a seat. You have a few minutes before you have to leave yes?"

"Thank you George." Mr. Spittori said, entering the kitchen. "How have things been with you? Hannah tells me you have been working on a house in Raleigh?"

"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Kent Mason. I just finished the final designs and construction begins on Monday."

"Wonderful. It's good that you have such exquisite talent. I've been tempted to ask Hannah to use her influence to have you design a home for Mally and myself. Assuming of course I get that promotion." Mr. Spittori said as he smiled at Carolyn's father.

"I'd be honored, Rolf. Just let me know when you're ready."

"It will be quite a while if we do not leave soon." Hannah said as she came over to her husband's side of the table. "I have to go darling." She said before kissing him on the cheek. She quickly made her way around the table, giving her children a quick peck, before heading to the front door, grabbing Mr. Spittori on her way.

"It was grand seeing you again George." Mr. Spittori said as he was herded out of the kitchen. "I'll have her back in no time."

"Just be careful, both of you." George said with a wistful look on his face. The family followed their mother to the front door waving her off, each with a sad look on their face.

"It's only for a week daddy," Carolyn said. "It'll go by in no time." Her father's appreciative smile was instantly wiped off his face by a groan from Kevin.

"Oh man," Kevin complained. "My Storm Bag! Where did I put it?" Turning from the door, he bolted upstairs in search of it.

"Storm bag?" Mr. Grace asked Carolyn.

"The bags Ms. Storm gave us when we had our robes made."

"Ah."

After twenty minutes of frantic searching, Kevin finally found his bag under the kitchen table where he put it this morning.

"I swear," said his father. "How can a kid as smart as you keep losing everything and stay so unorganized?"

"I try real hard."

Mr. Grace levitated everyone's trunks and took them outside. Once everything was sitting by the curb, he raised his right hand. Carolyn nearly jumped at the bang, which accompanied the appearance of the Wizard Coach, careening up the drive. When the van stopped in front of them, the driver hopped out.

"You folks call for the coach?" he asked walking up to Mr. Grace.

"Yes, one adult and two minors to Fredericksburg Virginia." Her father said.

"Ten galleons and seven sickles." The driver replied, opening the passenger door.

While the driver placed the Grace's trunks in the back, Carolyn climbed into the van and was only mildly surprised to see that the inside stretched far longer, wider, and higher than the outside appeared. The inside of the coach sported three floors of seating, each floor being twice the size of the Grace's living room. Scattered across each floor were a myriad of comfy looking sofas and plush recliners. Several witches and wizards were already seated or reclining on the first two floors, so Carolyn and her family headed to the third floor.

Even before they could gain their seats, the Graces felt the jolt of the coach speeding away from their drive. Once they gained their footing, they each took a seat in one of the plush recliners surrounding the fireplace. Carolyn sat Alcina's cage beside her own chair, while Kevin sat Brando's cage near the fireplace. Before long, a young witch approached them offering their choice of beverages. She also informed them that their trip would take about an hour, as they had to make a stop in California and one in Alaska before they reached Virginia. Once their drinks were delivered, Mr. Grace looked over to his children and smiled.

"There's something I haven't told you about our tip yet," he said. As both of the children gave him their full attention, he began again. "This year is the year of The Turning." Holding his hand up at his children's' quizzical looks, he continued. "The Turning is what our family calls the ritual where the current lord of the Grace family, in this case, your Grand Uncle Gaspar, gives control of the family estate and assets to his heir. This Turning will see your cousin Gregory become the new Grace Family patriarch. Now this Turning has the potential of affecting us more than we would normally expect. As you remember, Gregory has no son as yet. With the betrayal of Elissa, it appears as though it will be some time before he takes another wife and some time more before he has a son. If fate deems that Gregory does not father an heir, you Kevin will be the next patriarch of the Grace family."

Kevin looked serious as he asked his father, "So we're going to Grace Hill so I can step in if something goes wrong during this Turning."

"No," his father answered. "Not at all. Your cousin Gregory is in perfect health, so he'll take possession, but in 37 years, if he doesn't have an heir, the titles will fall to you. So, we are going to introduce you to some of the more important people within the family and our allies, just in case you are needed at the next Turning."

"Wait, 37 years?" Kevin asked. "Dad, that's like forever, I thought I'd have to do something like tomorrow."

Mr. Grace gave his son a chuckle, as he explained, "No, nothing to do tomorrow but enjoy your vacation. The day before the Turning, we'll introduce you to everyone, but other than that and the ritual, you have absolutely no responsibility this month."

"I think I can handle that," Kevin laughed as he leaned back into his seat.

"So what part do I have to play in the Turning dad," Carolyn asked as she put a carrot nub to Brando's cage and watched him pop from being a top hat into a rabbit.

"Unfortunately, none Pumpkin," her father answered. "The tradition of The Turning dates back to pre-colonial times where women didn't take an active part in running things. It's archaic I know, but it is a tradition that we've observed for over 350 years."

"Sounds fun," Carolyn muttered.

"Don't worry," her father said with a smile. "There are plenty of things to keep you occupied. Besides, the family estate and our holdings take up a great deal of time and energy just to maintain them. I think that the Grace women are smart to stay away from the headaches. I'm certainly glad that I won't have to put up with them."

"But you're willing to groom me for the headaches?" Kevin asked with a smirk.

"Another family tradition son," his father answered with a laugh. "Pass the buck." And with that, the family sat back and enjoyed the rest of their trip.

As the Wizard Coach ground to a halt in front of the sprawling mansion, the three Graces rose from their seats and made their way to the stairs. As soon as Carolyn exited the van, she found herself surrounded by no fewer than a dozen house elves, including…

"Geely, you made it." She said glad to see her friend had not stayed at home.

"Yes miss. Geely has been here for nearly an hour." Said the diminutive elf as she took Alcina's cage from Carolyn. Once Geely opened the cage to give the kite some exercise, she stepped aside and stood as the other elves, who had already grabbed the remainder of the Graces' baggage, joined her. Geely stepped forward proudly and began, "If it pleases Master George, Geely will see to Miss Carolyn's needs this month. Tim-tam," Geely said, indicating the elf to her right "will care for Master George, and Dooble, will care for Master Kevin's needs." Geely stepped back in line and waited.

"That sounds terrific Geely." Mr. Grace said. "Tim-tam, it is so good to see you again."

The very old elf standing next to Geely shuffled forward a step and bowed low. "It is an honor as always master George," the elf said, before stepping back in line. With several loud cracks, all of the elves and the Wizard Coach disappeared simultaneously. As they began up the front steps, the massive doors to the mansion opened wide and a sprite middle-aged wizard bounded out of the house.

"George!" the man cried out. "Merlin's beard man, it's been too long." Grabbing George's hand the older wizard pulled Carolyn's father into a tight embrace. "Goodness man, five years."

"I'm sorry Uncle Gaspar," Mr. Grace said. "Work has kept me from taking any sort of vacation for quite a while." Turning towards the children, he continued, "You remember my children, Kevin and Carolyn."

"Yes of course, both a bit older than when I saw them last," Uncle Gaspar said as he embraced each child in turn. "Come in all of you, and I'll personally show you to your rooms, George, we'll get caught up when you're settled."

As they followed Gaspar through the main foyer to the staircase, Carolyn marveled at the gilt woodwork and extravagant portraits. Ghosts floated here and there, through the walls, floors, and ceilings, each appearing as though they were going about on some serious business. On the third floor, Uncle Gaspar stopped before a large painting of his brother, Granger, George's father.

"Here is your suite George. When you get rested come down to the library, I have some things I'd like to show you."

"Yes, of course Uncle Gaspar," George said. "It shouldn't take but a few moments, and I'll be right there."

"Right. Now, you two," Uncle Gaspar turned to Carolyn and Kevin. "Unless I am much mistaken, you are less interested in the stuffiness of family business, and more interested in fun and sport, yes?" Both children nodded eagerly. "Well then, I suspect most of the other youngsters are in the back area, either playing Quidditch or surfing. Feel free to join them if you wish, but of course you have free reign anywhere on the grounds." As he turned to head back the way he came, Caspar paused and turned back to them. "By the way, the restriction for underage magic does not apply here. However, I must warn you not to be hexing or dueling anyone, otherwise I will impose my own restrictions." With that, he turned once again and headed back downstairs.

Once Gaspar left them to their suite, the children wasted no time getting into some leisure clothes and heading outside with their broomsticks. As they exited the backdoor, however, a movement to the right caught Carolyn's eye. Looking toward the stables, Carolyn saw a beautiful sight. A tall white unicorn, being ridden by a teenage witch, with golden blonde hair.

"Kevin, you go on, I want to go to the stables first," she told her brother. "I'd forgotten about the Unicorns, I want to see what else they have."

"O.k.," her brother said. "Just remember to let me know if you go anywhere else."

"Got it," she said as she headed off after the unicorn.

As Carolyn approached the stables, the witch riding the unicorn dismounted and began leading the animal to the paddock.

"Hi," Carolyn said as she approached. Both the girl and the unicorn turned their heads toward her. "My name's Carolyn. Are all of the unicorns available to ride?"

The girl looked at her quizzically before answering, "You can, but not everyone can ride them."

"Yeah, I know the limitations, I still qualify," Carolyn giggled. This brought a smile to the girls face as well, accompanied by a slight blush.

"Well in that case, my name is Rachel. Have you ridden unicorns before," the girl asked as she continued to lead the unicorn to the paddock.

"No," Carolyn replied. "The last time I was here, I was just six, and my parents wouldn't let me ride."

"Well, no problem then, if you want, we can start you on some lessons and introduce you to some of our friends." Rachel smiled as the unicorn entered the paddock and she closed the gate.

"You mean the unicorns?" Carolyn asked.

"Well yes, but to call them 'the unicorns' or the others horses, animals, steeds, whatever, diminishes their value as individuals. You wouldn't like another race referring to you as the human would you?"

"I'm not sure. If I don't call them unicorns, what do I call them?" Carolyn asked puzzled.

"What do you like to be called?" Rachel asked her mouth quirking.

"By my name of course… Oh, I get it." Carolyn nodded as Rachel's meaning dawned on her. "So what is his name?" she asked pointing to the unicorn in the paddock.

"This is Heron, but the stable master calls him Swift." Rachel replied.

"Why two names?"

"Human misunderstanding," Rachel, sighed.

"Huh?"

"Just because we do not understand other races, doesn't mean they don't have their own languages. When parents have children, one of the first things they do is name them. His parents," she inclined her head toward the paddock, "named him Heron. Grandpa named him Swift."

Carolyn was in awe by this information. She had no idea that the lives of animals were so similar to humans. "So how did you find out what his parents named him?" she asked, still a bit overwhelmed.

"They told me," Rachel answered matter-of-factly.

Carolyn's eyes widened. "You can talk to them?"

Rachel lifted her right hand showing her Grace family ring. "My first power," she said. "I get to speak with Equines."

"Nice." Carolyn said impressed.

"What about you?" Rachel asked.

"No, all I hear is neighing."

"No silly, your ring powers."

"Oh," Carolyn said, flushing. "I'm not sure yet. Nothing's shown."

"Well, give it time. Every ring has at least one. Come on. Let's get you started on your lessons."

For the next two hours, Carolyn learned from Rachel how to approach the Grace family equines properly, how to ask for permission to ride and know when they granted permission. She also learned that aside from unicorns, Grace Hill hosted abraxons, aethonans, granians, and palominos. None of the equines enjoys bearing saddles, so each rider on Grace Hill learns to ride bareback and to show great care for themselves and their mounts while riding. By dinnertime, Carolyn had become knowledgeable enough to mount Habraxis, a four-year-old unicorn, and be lead around the paddock under Rachel's supervision. Afterward, Rachel walked Carolyn through cooling down and grooming her mount, explaining that proper treatment and grooming was important to the equine's health.

After leading Habraxis back to the stables, Rachel took Carolyn around and introduced her to the other mounts. Carolyn was fascinated with each animal as she met them and learned their true names and their human-given names. As Carolyn finished her tour, she promised Rachel that she would return later and continue her lessons. Grabbing her broomstick, she began jogging towards the family pitch where it appeared a fierce game of quidditch was playing out.

Carolyn had barely cleared the stables when she noticed her father and Grand Uncle Gaspar walking towards the pitch as well. Slowing, she changed directions to meet up and walk with them. As she approached them, she began hearing the conversation between her father and Uncle Gaspar.

"…when Kellen told me that Hannah was at the office," her father was saying, "I flooed her, and found out. She told me that Leonhard pulled her off the Secretary's detail to work the investigation of the missing Goblin from Gringott's Bank. She may not be able to get here at all this month."

"Bad business," Uncle Gaspar said, "If it was a witch or wizard behind Garforn's disappearance, the Goblins will want satisfaction. If they don't get it, it could be war."

"Daddy," Carolyn said, interrupting the conversation. "Mom's not coming at all?"

Turning to his daughter, George sighed as she caught up to them. "It doesn't look like it sweetie. Director Leonhard, pulled mama and Mr. Spittori off the Secretary of Magic's security detail to investigate the incident at Gringott's the day you were hurt. It's pretty important, so, unless they figure it out soon, your mother is stuck at home working."

This news was not something that Carolyn wanted to hear. Crestfallen, with slumped shoulders, Carolyn continued with her father and great uncle toward the pitch, not really wanting to have fun now that she knew her entire family would not be enjoying their vacation.

"You know pumpkin," her father said in a false cheerful tone. "If you're still up to it, it looks like the other kids could use some help. The teams look lopsided." Sure enough, when Carolyn looked up, she saw only 13 flyers in the game. One of the kids, a skinny boy with red hair, was wielding a bat and carrying the quaffle. As this was not a standard play in Quidditch, she assumed that the boy was pulling double duty.

"Rory," Uncle Gaspar called. "Time out, we got a new player coming in!"

With that, all of the players came to the ground landing in front of Carolyn and the adults. The red haired boy dismounted his broom and came over to Carolyn.

"Hey Carolyn," Rory Shaunessy, Carolyn's cousin said as he approached. "Kevin tells me you're a fair beater for your age. Wanna give it a try?"

"Sure," Carolyn said grinning. "Just promise not to laugh at me," she said, throwing a subtle glance to Kevin.

"No worries. We're all about fun here. You're on my team, which means you're against Kevin." Rory smiled as he led Carolyn to the other players. Besides Rory and Kevin, there was Michael, Rory's younger brother. They were the sons of her aunt Gretchen (her father's sister.) There was also Gabriel and Gabrielle Grace, Kelly Harris, Shane Winslow, Billy Ashton, Tim Shaw, and Terry Poole, all of whom were the grandchildren of Gunthar, the stable master. The remaining grandchildren of Grand Uncle Gaspar, including Philip Hale, her Cousin Gladys's son, Gary Grace, Cousin Gilbert's son, and Jennifer Lail, Cousin Glenda's daughter, rounded out the players.

Once Carolyn had her pads on, the two teams once again took to the air. Now fully staffed, no one needed to hold two positions and the game became even fiercer. Carolyn made quite an impression with everyone when she nearly took Kevin out of the game with a well-aimed bludger. As time went by, Kevin's team learned quickly that if they had any hope of scoring, they needed to keep the bludgers away from Carolyn's bat, for she did her level best to keep any of the chasers away from the goal posts. After a quick shot to her cousin Philip, that knocked the quaffle out of his arm, Gary retaliated with a shot of his own aimed straight for Carolyn. Carolyn noticed the bludger too late and only swerved enough to keep the ball from hitting her, but not from hitting her broomstick. So powerful was the shot that her broomstick seemed to disintegrate from beneath her. Carolyn had no time to register the fact before she began falling.

Just as she began to feel the panic of her fall, Carolyn felt a warming sensation in her right hand and her fall quickly halted. Carolyn watched as thirteen brooms merged just below her waiting to catch her, but she remained aloft. Looking about she scanned the onlookers to see who might have stopped her fall, but no one had their wands out.

"Whoever is holding me up can set me down now," She called out to everyone. Still no one moved. "Seriously, who's got me levitated?"

Everyone began looking around to each other, no wands were out, and no one was claiming the privilege of having saved her life. Uncle Gaspar himself drew his wand and pointed it at Carolyn. Carolyn felt a slights breeze as Uncle Gaspar's spell connected, but she did not move. Again, Gaspar flicked his wand and called out the summoning charm. This time, Carolyn felt a slight tug, but remained aloft. George was looking up to his daughter and suddenly a smile broke his face.

"Pumpkin," he called to her, "I want you to do me a favor! I want you to concentrate on going to the goalposts!"

Carolyn looked at her father as if he had gone crazy, but long accustomed to doing as her father asked she turned her gaze to the goalposts closest to her. She thought about walking over to them and even tried moving her legs as if she were walking, but still she remained in place. She continued looking to the goalposts, thinking how nice it would be to do as her father asked and go to them, but nothing.

"Concentrate darling," her father called. "Will your body to move towards the goals."

Concentrating on moving to them and willing herself with every fiber, she was quite surprised to see them actually getting closer. Once she realized that she was moving, her surprise overcame her concentration, and she immediately stopped. Once again suspended in midair, Carolyn became afraid that she would never set foot on solid ground again.

"You were doing it sis," Kevin said to her, he had flown up to her side. "Come one keep it up."

"Kevin, please," Carolyn said, her voice wavering. "Get me down from here."

"I'm right here sis," Kevin replied. "I'm right beside you and trust me, I won't let you fall. I think dad's on to something though. No one is holding you up. Uncle Gaspar's levitation charm and summoning charm didn't affect you. Trust dad, and trust me not to let anything happen to you."

"I'm scared Kevin."

"I know, but remember that I am right here and I'll have you on my broom before you can drop an inch." Kevin smiled at his sister and motioned for her to continue towards the goalposts.

Slightly encouraged, Carolyn once again turned her sights to the goalposts and began concentrating on them. She willed herself to be beside them and once again felt herself moving in their direction. From the corner of her eye, she saw her brother move along with her. The confidence his presence gave her spurred her to concentrate harder and she began moving faster to her goal. In no time, she was at the center post and she looked again at her father.

"Daddy, what's going on?"

"I think my dear," he answered her, "that you have just found the power of your ring."

Carolyn looked at her ring and saw a flash of green shoot across it. The truth began to emerge as Carolyn realized that her ring allowed her to fly. Smiling, she looked to the goalposts at the other end of the pitch and a thought occurred to her. She looked to the other end of the pitch and willed herself to the goalposts at that end. In a flash, she was moving and reached the other center post in just a few seconds. Elated by her power, Carolyn willed herself again to the first goalposts and back.

Within minutes, she began making laps around the pitch, rising and diving with barely a thought, the cheers of her family bearing her along until another thought occurred to her and she stopped short in midair. Looking to her brother, who still held the quaffle, she began gliding towards him with a smile on her face. Grinning himself, he was caught completely by surprise when Carolyn yanked the quaffle from him and shot to her own goalposts, where she tossed the ball through the center hoop.

Carolyn laughed joyously as mayhem broke out on and around the pitch. People were cheering and every player scattered to resume the game. Fortunately for Carolyn, when she began to fall, her bat was strapped to her wrist, because once Kevin's team realized what a threat she was, bludgers began shooting at her more often. It took nearly an hour for the seekers to get over the shock of seeing Carolyn flying without aid, but soon enough, both were ignoring her and the playing in their search for the snitch, which Michael ended up catching, winning the game for his and Kevin's team. Carolyn descended with the other players and landed in the welcoming arms of both her father and Uncle Gaspar.

"Well done young lady," Uncle Gaspar said over the cheers. "I would have thought that you would have panicked and ran into the house when your power emerged. Poor Rachel hid inside for a month when she first heard one of the horses talking to her. It took her quite a while longer before she'd even go near the stables." Uncle Gaspar laughed riotously as he recounted. Carolyn just blushed and began walking with her father and brother, followed by the rest of the family towards the house.

In no time, Carolyn found herself changing for dinner, while across the hall her father was trying to have another conversation with her mother.

"211 Palmetto Lane, Piedmont Acres," he said as he threw the floo powder into the fireplace. In a matter of moments, the image of his living room appeared in the fire. Just as George was going to place his head into the green fire, he noticed that Hannah was not alone. Rolf Spittori was sitting beside her on the sofa. Both were gazing into a large semi-flat bowl, which George recognized as her pensieve.

"Darling," he said gently so as not to startle her. "I hate to interrupt, but I was hoping that we could talk for a moment."

Hannah did not answer. Instead, she and Rolf lowered their heads to the pensieve and they became immersed in the memories contained within. Knowing that his conversation would not take place right away, George waved his hand across the flames and his living room disappeared.

Sighing as he sat back, George considered returning home to be with his wife, but quickly dismissed the thought. He knew that it would just distract her, knowing he had cut the family vacation just to be home with her. Besides, if what he witnessed were any indication, whether he was there or not, she would be too engulfed in work to know he was there. With another sigh and giving silent thanks that Rolf was with her, George rose to change for dinner himself. At least she would be safe if things turned bad.

August at Grace Hill was a wonderful experience for Carolyn. She spent her mornings working with Rachel exercising the unicorns and keeping them groomed. Rachel introduced Carolyn to Cestia, a unicorn mare nearly ready to foal. Rachel explained that the estate kept twenty mares and two stallions of each breed of equines. Gunthar trades out the males once they have sired at least one foal from each mare, and the older mares eventually go into the wild domestically, or Gunthar ships them overseas where they are native. Rachel explained that Grace Hill works diligently to make certain the equines remain healthy and their numbers remain high enough to avoid becoming endangered.

After working with the unicorns, Carolyn would choose one of the other equines and exercise them, often jumping from the backs of the flyers to race them and better her own flying skills. She was becoming proficient enough with her own flying that she often outpaced all but the giant abraxians when racing. After cooling down whichever mount she was working, Carolyn went through the cool-down and grooming process before heading into the stables to help Gunthar, Glenda, Rachel and the stable hands muck the stalls and repair the tacks. Although Gunthar preferred working alone in the empty stalls, Carolyn was always a welcome helpmate to the others who handled the Grace family equines.

Afternoons, she spent playing quidditch, where she often became the first chosen by whichever of her cousins captained. The other team invariably spent the match dodging her bludgers, and working mercilessly to find the snitch hoping to end their own suffering as quickly as possible. By the thirteenth, Carolyn's broom-less flying lost its novelty and the games became much closer in the scores. With experience, Hannah's cousins began anticipating her deadly accuracy with the bludgers and opposing beaters began working diligently to keep the heavy balls away from her bat. Carolyn's first defeat came on Tuesday, the thirteenth. Kevin was captaining one team, but did not get to choose first. Throughout the match, Kevin made sure his beaters kept the bludgers away from Carolyn while his chasers stayed on top of their opponents. Score after score, Carolyn's team could not gain ground. Kevin blocked each of her chasers shots, seeming to know everyone's move before they could even make it. Finally, blissfully, Kevin's seeker caught the snitch ending the massacre. With a final score of 420 to 0, Kevin landed beside his sister with a huge grin on his face.

"Well sis, we finally beat ya," he said draping his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, we'll get you tomorrow. Rory and Michael are captains," Carolyn replied, a bit miffed at her loss. "Your little band is gonna be broken up then."

"Tell ya a secret if you promise not to get mad," he said as they approached the back patio.

"What?" she asked knowing that bad news was coming.

"Your team threw the match."

"WHAT?" she yelled.

"We got together last night and decided that since each of us had lost at least once, you should join the club and lose a match," Kevin said.

"You did what? Why would you do that?"

"Look," Kevin said, holding up his hands in surrender as he took a seat on a lounge. "When we get to school, you're going to be competing against some really cut throat players. Look at how you feel now and imagine how much worse it would be if you lost a game in front of over 500 people, who are basically strangers."

"If I lost honestly I wouldn't be angry Kevin!"

"Maybe not, but I didn't know that. I wasn't about to take the chance of you flipping out in front of the whole school."

"Kevin," Carolyn started. "I am your sister. You should know by now that I am not the type of person to throw a tantrum just because things don't go my way." She sighed before turning on her heels and heading into the house. When she reached the door, she turned and glared at her brother. "But remember this big brother. Whether it's tomorrow or on the pitch at school, even if I have to wait two years to do it, I will make you wish that today had never happened."

"Well don't make it tomorrow, we have plans."

"What plans?"

"Some of the family's allies are coming tomorrow," he began, "as well as a few dignitaries. Dad probably wanted to tell you, but hasn't gotten around to it yet."

"Fine," she scathed, "but after the Turning, you will pay." With that, she turned and went into the house stomping through the mudroom and out of sight.


	5. Ch 04: The Turning

**Chapter Four:**

**The Turning**

"I take it she wasn't appreciative?" came a voice from behind Kevin. Turning he saw his dad approach.

"You knew?" he asked.

"Son, you should know there are very few things that my children do that I do not know about." George replied. "Now," he continued, "it looks like you've got a problem with your sister. You know she doesn't accept apologies, so you're going to have to answer for this."

"I know dad," Kevin sulked. "That's something else I've got to work on. She's got to learn to accept apologies, because if she tries to get even with everyone at school who does something, she's either gonna get expelled or she's gonna get hexed into oblivion. Then I'll end up getting expelled."

His father laughed as he put his arms around him.

"You know," he began, "she doesn't get even every time. She only gets even with you." With that and a laugh, George got up and went into the house himself.

Kevin sat there dumbfounded for a moment, and then started as a thought occurred to him. How could he have been so stupid? _I've got to fix this_, he thought to himself. _I've got to fix everything before she causes no end of trouble_. Kevin rose from his seat and headed into the house in search of his little sister.

Kevin was so intent on finding Carolyn that he nearly bowled over his someone as he entered the front hallway.

"Excuse me," he said, reaching out a hand to steady his victim. "I didn't see you… Mr. Secretary." He finished nearly in a whisper. Kevin had the misfortune of nearly knocking down Boris Grayson, the Secretary of Magic. "Mr. Secretary, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Quite a feat young man," the Secretary said, "considering my size."

Secretary Harcourt's joke was spot on however. Boris Edmond Allister Grayson was Secretary of Magic in the United States. More than just the leader of America's Magical Community, Secretary Grayson was the father of Anna Grayson of The Guardians, who were caretakers of all things magic, and he always took his responsibilities very seriously. Active and energetic, Secretary Grayson had a driving personality. Very tall and broad, he was the type of person who looked exactly like the person he was, a very powerful man who wielded a lot of power in the wizarding world.

"I-I'm very s-s-sorry sir, I-I was too busy thinking about something," Kevin stammered.

"Think nothing of it young man," the Secretary assured him with a hand on his shoulder. "You've made me feel as if I were half my size," he laughed.

"You're too kind sir," Kevin said. Another thought suddenly occurred to him. "Sir, I didn't know you'd be joining us this week."

The Secretary gave him a quizzical look before looking back to the wizard behind him, that Kevin only just noticed. Looking back to Kevin the Secretary responded with "I'm not the least surprised. My office often refuses to make my schedule public knowledge, Mr. -"

"Grace Sir," Kevin supplied. "It's just my mom was going to Pennsylvania to work for you, until she was called back home."

"I am not sure who your mother is Mr. Grace, but I assure you that I-"

"Boris!" Uncle Gaspar called out entering the hallway. "You've made it. I thought your hectic schedule would have kept you from joining us this week."

Turning to see the new arrival, the Secretary broke into a smile and extended his hand.

"Oh hardly, Gaspar," he said shaking the Grace Patriarch hand. "You've told me for years what a spectacle The Turning is, I was not about to miss it."

As the two older men and the other wizard walked away towards the front sitting room, Kevin went off in search of his father, his previous plans changed for the moment.

_September 4, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_I have had enough! Grace caught Jake and me heading back from detention and started making fun of us because we had fertilizer all over us. We told him to bug off and the next thing we knew, he was throwing hexes at us. He hit Jake with a stinging hex and a body-bind. I'm not sure which spells he shot at me, but he flipped me through the halls and stunned me. When we got to the medical ward, we told Hags what happened. She called him to the medical ward and he denied the whole thing. He had two of his friends swear that he was in the dorm the whole time._

_Naturally, even though we didn't have our wands on us, Hags accused us of fighting each other and gave us two more weeks of detention. Mom had a note waiting on me when I got back to my room. Apparently, if I get detention one more time, she's pulling m out of school and breaking my wand herself. I've had enough of that idiot, and starting tomorrow, he's going to spend the rest of his life wishing I'd never been born._

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood School for Magic (Sixth Grade)_

Carolyn was seriously confused. How could the gentle loving man that was her father have been so cruel at that age? True from the diary, her mother was no saint either, but to attack two unarmed students, a year younger?

_September 5, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_There was an accident in the alchemy lab today, so Mr. Pruitt cancelled our class. From what I heard, someone in the seventh grade class was working on a spinyroot potion and all of a sudden, it blew up halfway through. I heard that whoever it was, had been sent to the medical ward with roots growing out of his face and neck. Something else strange, I didn't see George Grace at dinner tonight either. I wonder what that's about._

Carolyn couldn't believe it. She knew that her father's potions never failed. Every time anyone got sick, mom always made him brew the potions.

_O.K. I have to admit it! I got up early this morning and slipped into the alchemy lab. I found Grace's cauldron in the seventh grade stack and coated it with gold talcum. It blended with the inside of the cauldron and no one noticed it. Lucky for him, he wasn't trying to brew any medical potions._

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood School for Magic (Sixth Grade)_

Oh, that was evil. What would have happened if he had been brewing medical potions? How could mom have done something like that? Carolyn put the diary back on her nightstand and began dressing for dinner. Carolyn had no sooner dressed than she heard a knock on her door. Opening it, she came face-to-face with the one person she really did not want to see at this moment.

"What do you want Kevin?" Carolyn asked as she opened Alcina's cage to let her go hunt.

"Before you get fussy," he began, "I want to give you something," he said, producing a broomstick.

"That's nice, but one, I don't need a broomstick to fly now, and two, you can't buy your way out of trouble."

With an exasperated sigh, Kevin held the broom out to his sister. "It's not a peace offering." Seeing her determined to ignore his gesture, Kevin continued. "Listen, this is for school. It doesn't even fly."

Carolyn huffed and started to close the door on her brother but he quickly placed his foot in the way.

"Will you listen for a minute?"

"What Kevin," she said as she rounded on him. "Do you think Willowood will forget the no broomstick policy for sixth graders just because it doesn't fly? If they do make an exception, you want me to use a dead broom to practice Quidditch. All my life, every time I have had a problem you've been there for me. Now all of a sudden, I find an interest in your sport, and all you can think to do is try to sabotage me?"

"Oh will you stop it," Kevin yelled. "Do you really think that I would put a stupid game before my sister?" The force of his words took Carolyn by surprise. "Look Car, sixth graders aren't allowed to have brooms, but you don't need one. In fact as quick as you adapted to flying on your own, I think a working broom would be a hindrance to you. But the fact is the rules of quidditch require that all players be on brooms, or they don't play."

"So your answer is to give me a broom that doesn't fly."

"Exactly."

"Go away Kevin," she said moving to close the door again.

"Because if you can learn to make it look like you're using a broom while flying on your own, you won't be disqualified from playing." This stopped Carolyn in her tracks.

"So if I make people think that I'm on a broom, I might get to play," she said as dawning struck her.

"Exactly."

"It might work, but I'll have to practice."

"Great. We'll start Friday. Everyone should be gone by then."

"Everyone's leaving? Why?"

"Just the guests," Kevin said. "We've got a lot of people here for The Turning on Thursday."

"Jinx, I forgot about that," Carolyn said.

"Yeah well, put this up and come on down to dinner," Kevin said handing her the dead broom. "Dad said there are a lot of people here, so if we want a good seat we better hurry."

As it happened, seating was not going to be a problem. The dining hall had been magically expanded for tonight's festivities. Carolyn and Eric arrived in time to get seats very close to the head of the table. Carolyn sat next to her father and Kevin sat next to a lovely red haired woman in a purple robe. Before long, the table was full of Grace family members and their guests. As the last person sat at the table, Grand Uncle Gaspar rose from his seat and began.

"Tonight is quite a treat for Grace Hill," he began. "We are not only blessed with the reunion of our great family, but our honored guests as well." A light round of applause circled the table. "I would like to especially note the presence of our esteemed Secretary of Magic, Mr. Boris Grayson." Uncle Gaspar paused while the secretary rose to applause. "We also have with us, Wallace Harcourt, Secretary of Justice, Bertrum Biddle, Secretary of Finance, Earnest Evans, Magical Transportation, Iris Indicott, International Magical Cooperation, Liberty Leonhard, Head Auror, Margaret Merripole, Chief Witch of the Wizengamot," Uncle Gaspar paused after each name to allow each person to acknowledge his or her applause. Continuing, he called off, "Prudence Pigwen, Magical Artifacts Control, John Hayman, Captain of the Crimson Guard, and Anna Grayson, Leader of the Guardians of Magic." After Anna's applause subsided, Uncle Gaspar concluded, "Welcome to you all. I hope that your stay here is as pleasant for you as your company is to us."

After the announcements, everyone broke off into separate conversations. Secretary Grayson was discussing how their recent work in New York was finally completed.

"Yes," the secretary was saying. "It was an awful time giving all of those people new memories. And conjuring those muggle wreckages, but with that level of destruction, our only other option was to make our world known."

"That's completely understandable Mr. Secretary," Uncle Gaspar replied, "but giving out the real name of the wizard responsible for the massacre?"

"Well now Gaspar," said Harcourt as he stuffed another piece of ham into his mouth. "We all know that if anyone is going to capture bin Laden, it's going to be the Arabic aurors that he has betrayed. Besides, he and his followers are a severe threat to muggles around the world. It will do them good to be wary of him."

A few seats down, Carolyn's father, and Wallace Harcourt were involved in a different topic.

"Surely you can't be serious George." Mr. Harcourt was saying. "I mean, I understand the need for magical and muggle cooperation, but imbuing magic into the creation of muggle homes is a terrible idea."

"I have to agree with my Mr. Harcourt, Mr. Grace," the red haired girl said from beside Kevin. "In order to guarantee the magic, you would have to forego spells and either use magical materials or enchant materials. Either option is dangerous in the presence of muggles who may not understand the purpose or effects of it."

"Well, I only thought to enchant the materials so that they would be more durable," Mr. Grace answered. "That way they wouldn't have to worry about restorations or repairs for a while."

"But surely you must see the flaw in your plan Mr. Grace," said the red haired girl. "What if the muggle wanted to build an addition or make other renovations before the enchantments wear off? They would be unlikely to call in an architect to add a simple room or extend the ceiling. They would have to destroy a portion of the original house to make room for the improvements. In doing so, they would in ignorance, destroy the magic that is bound to the house. If the magic is particularly stubborn, they may not be able to destroy the material at all, and then the veil of secrecy would be in danger."

"Unless you confunded the muggles into never wanting to change the house," Kevin chimed in.

The red haired girl smiled at him as she said, "That is true Kevin, but unlike charms that protect magical areas from muggle intrusion, confunding charms would technically be a direct assault upon muggles. It would essentially take away their free will."

Kevin blushed furiously as he replied, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Nor had I," said his father. "Unfortunately I never considered future renovations or remodeling either. I guess I was thinking that my designs were going to meet the needs of my clients forever."

"The only time I have ever found that to be true George," Mr. Grayson said, cutting into the conversation, "was when we rebuilt Anna's house. She insisted that it be restored to its original design."

The red haired girl smiled and blushed slightly, then turned back to Kevin and extended her hand.

"I'm sorry to have cut you off like that Kevin, I'm Anna."

As Kevin took her hand, a warm feeling emanated from his ring and Anna seemed to pause in mid thought. After a moment, she released his hand and smiled.

"That is a fascinating ring you have Kevin," she said looking at him quizzically. "I am glad to see that you do not abuse its power. I'm sure the school would be rather disappointed if you did."

"Oh no," Kevin said. "Dad gave me a long talk when the powers first emerged. I only use it when practicing dueling. After all, in a fight against dark wizards, it would be useful."

Throughout this conversation, Carolyn was blushing profusely. Could she be abusing the power of her ring by flying during quidditch? Kevin just said that he only used his ring power to practice. Should she not use hers except as it was needed? Carolyn resolved to talk to her father about it later.

The next day was a hectic for Grace Hill. More friends arrived at the estate for The Turning, and Grand Uncle Gaspar had Carolyn's father and brother sequestered away, introducing them to everyone. Carolyn spent her morning with Rachel and Glenda at the stables pulling double duty as Gunthar stayed with his brother and the rest of the Grace men. After exercising and grooming all of the mounts, the three of them spent the afternoon cleaning the stables. After cleaning the massive abraxian stalls, Carolyn headed over to the back area to work on the stalls Gunthar usually handled himself.

"Carolyn," called Glenda, "There's no need to bother with those, Gunthar will get them tomorrow."

"It's no problem Aunt Glenda," Carolyn said continuing over to the empty stalls.

"Stop child!" Glenda shouted. Carolyn halted in her steps. Turning around she saw concern on Glenda and Rachel's faces.

"Aunt Glenda," Carolyn said, "it's really no big deal, I'll have them cleaned out before you know it. Then whatever horses you keep there will have them clean when you bring them in."

Slowly Glenda came over to Carolyn and took the child's hands into her own. Looking fondly upon the innocent face of her great niece Glenda smiled as tears fell from her eyes.

"The thing is Carolyn," she began with a quavering voice. "The equines housed in those stalls are already there." Seeing Carolyn turn her head to look again, she continued. "They are thestrals dear. You cannot see them, and I pray you never do. It's best to let Gunthar care for them. Trying to lead them without seeing them can be dangerous to both the thestral and you."

Carolyn did not need further explanation. She of course knew of thestrals. One could only see the true form of thestrals by witnessing and comprehending death. She looked again towards the not empty stalls with a sad expression. A part of her pitied the animals for their mistaken reputation, but a larger part of her agreed with her aunt and hoped never to see one.

"I understand Aunt Glenda," she said, turning back to her aunt. "But if you want, we can have someone who can see them lead them out, and I can clean their stalls."

"No child," Glenda replied. "As I said, they will be fine today. Gunthar will give them some extra care tomorrow." Nodding, Carolyn allowed Glenda and Rachel lead her out of the stables and back into the house.

_September 6, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_Tonight's detention has been cancelled. Jake is in the medical ward. Everyone says they don't know what happened, but I know that Grace was behind it. Mrs. Craite wouldn't let me in to see him, but I told the Hags about the trouble Grace has been causing us. I can't wait to see his face when he gets expelled._

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood (Sixth Grade)_

_September 7, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_This is unbelievable. I got to see Jake this morning. Half of his face had been sliced off. He said he didn't know what happened, but I know it had to have been George Grace. He's been smug all day, and making snide comments about some ghost at an opera. I asked the Hags what was going to happen to Grace for doing this to Jake, and she said that there was no proof that he did it._

_I can tell now that the only way to put this creep out of my misery for good is to do it myself. My detention is back on tonight, so I'm going to see Jake real quick before I go to the greenhouses._

_Hannah Mercer_

_Willowood (Sixth Grade)_

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as Carolyn spent most of it reading more of her mother's diary. Finally, when dinnertime came around, she dressed and headed down to the dining room, only to find it populated solely by the women of Grace Hill and the wives and daughters of their guests.

"Everyone else is gathering at The Globe for tonight's ceremony." Rachel answered her unspoken question.

"Carolyn dear," Aunt Glenda said. "Your father asked us to remind you to get to bed early tonight. Something about your having to relearn to fly."

"Thank you Aunt Glenda."

"You've forgotten how to fly?" Anna Grayson asked her.

"Not really," Carolyn answered. "I've just found another way. The problem is, I got used to it so quickly, I need to get used to riding a broom again."

"I see." Anna said. "I take it that your new way has something to do with your ring?"

"It's the power of the ring." Carolyn said smiling proudly.

"I take it that every Grace has one," Anna said looking at the hands of the women around the table.

"No," Glenda answered, "just those who are blood born."

Anna nodded as she thought things over. "So each ring has a different power. Does your family not believe that some of these powers may be too much for such young witches and wizards?"

"For three hundred sixty-seven years my dear," Glenda said. "Blood born Graces have received a family ring on their eleventh birthdays. The power does not always reveal itself immediately, but it always reveals itself when needed. I have lived for seventy-eight years and have yet to see a Grace abuse the power of his or her ring."

"Impressive," said Anna. "Your family should be proud that you instill such lasting values in your children. My father has done his very best to do the same with us." She looked down wistfully before continuing, "If I have offended you Ms. Grace, I apologize, and you as well Carolyn."

Carolyn smiled in response to Anna, but the smile faltered as she considered what her aunt had just said. Had Aunt Glenda not been watching as Carolyn abused the power of her ring all week? As dinner continued, the mood and conversations became lighter. Anna told the younger girls about her school Castlewood, which Carolyn's cousin Gabrielle will attend this year. Gabrielle showed particular interest in Anna's union, the Guardians. Anna explained how she was the first Guardian and the founding of the Guardians just eight years ago. When Anna asked if her mother and father both attended Castlewood, Anna's expression became sad as she answered.

In no time, it seemed dinner ended and as the adults began to gather in the parlor, the younger girls were ushered to their rooms. Geely had no sooner closed the door to her room before Carolyn was back out of bed and putting on her robes. Creeping over to the door, Carolyn listened to see if anyone was in the hallway. Hearing nothing, she crept back to her window and opened them. Carolyn knew that the ceremony was being held at The Globe, which was a monument to the ship the original George Grace came to Virginia on in 1635. Taking a breath, Carolyn leapt from the window in full flight heading to the monument.

In less than two minutes, Carolyn was hovering in the treetops looking down into the clearing where the men had gathered. She saw through the branches her father and brother standing to the right of Gregory, while Grand Uncle Gaspar stood on his left. As the moon broke the tree line on the opposite side, Uncle Gaspar stepped forward. As he approached the monument, 10 ghosts, all of them men, joined him.

"Our fathers, the first sons of the Globe," Uncle Gaspar began. "We are reunited at this monument symbolizing our entrance into the new world." The monument, a bronze sculpture of a seventeenth century ship began glowing blue. "I come before you now to fulfill my final vow," Uncle Gaspar continued, "and to receive the vows of my son and heir." Uncle Gaspar extended his hand to Gregory, who joined his father at the monument.

"Our fathers," Gregory began, "the first sons of the Globe, I come before you now to seek the power to defend our family name and estate. I vow to spend my life protecting that which we have worked to build. I vow to continue building upon your legacy. I vow to protect and maintain the family Grace with all of my life, soul, and magic. Expecto Patronum!" Gregory's wand was pointed to the monument and white ghostly cat leapt from the end. The cat ghost walked around the monument for a moment, and then disappeared into the ship. Gregory put his wand away and stepped back to allow his father to continue.

"My fathers," Uncle Gaspar said raising his own wand to salute the ghosts. "My sons," he said turning to salute the assembly. As Uncle Gaspar turned back toward the monument, he pointed his wand to the ship. "My legacy. 'm buchedd atat!" With the last, a yellow beam shot out of his wand and into the ship. Carolyn watched in horror as Uncle Gaspar's body began to disintegrate, leaving a ghostly apparition in its place. When the last of his body had crumbled away, Uncle Gaspar's ghost floated over to join his ancestors, while Gregory once again stepped forward in his place.

Drawing his wand once again, Gregory pointed it at the monument of the Globe. "Diutinus Patronum!" At the call of the spell, Gregory's ghostly cat emerged from the ship, this time the same shade of yellow and Uncle Gaspar's spell. The cat leapt from the monument and passed through Gregory's body, followed by the 11 ghosts of his ancestors. Gregory was left kneeling at the monument as the rest of the Grace men surrounded him and one by one embraced him.

Carolyn was horrified by what she had seen. She turned quickly and shot back through the sky toward the house. Hoping no one noticed her absent she approached her open window and slowed her flight before entering her room. Once her feet touched the floor, she threw herself onto her bed and began weeping.

Back at the clearing, a single pair of eyes continued to look at the spot, from where his great niece had just flown. With a look of sadness, the ghost of Gaspar Grace floated over to his nephew.

"George," he said. "I'm afraid there was an unexpected witness to the ceremony tonight."

While Carolyn wept into her pillow, Uncle Gaspar's ghost informed her father that she had witnessed the ceremony. George became heartsick with the knowledge that his daughter had witnessed it. He had hoped that she would never have to witness death. Making his apologies, George Grace left the clearing followed by his uncle's ghost.

"You don't have to come, Uncle Gaspar," George said.

"I'm afraid I do George," the ghost replied. "It is difficult for one so young to understand death. But when the death is surrounded by circumstances such as these, she may develop the wrong opinion."

"I am aware of that," George said. "But I think that I am fully capable of explaining to my daughter what she witnessed."

"Perhaps," said Gaspar. "But if she is anything like your sister, she will still have questions." George stopped in his tracks and turned to his uncle.

"What are you talking about," he asked. "Carol never knew about The Turning."

Uncle Gaspar sighed. "Carol never spoke to you about The Turning," he said. "I am afraid, unfortunately, that your daughter was not the first Carol Grace to witness the ceremony."

"Oh my God," George said. "Uncle, Carol was seven years old when you became heir."

"Yes," Gaspar answered, "and if you recall, she was quite precocious in her youth."

"But how," George began. "Why was I never told about her knowing?"

"You were quite young yourself, George," Gaspar said. "You were only four-years-old when your father carried you out to this clearing."

"Yes, and it was years before I realized what I was witnessing."

"But your sister knew right away," Gaspar said calmly. "She was so distraught. It took your father, me, and your grandfather to calm her."

"Dear sweet heaven," George said. Suddenly he looked at his uncle. "Can that be why she-"

"Don't even consider that," Uncle Gaspar interrupted. "Your sister had other reasons for becoming interested in necromancy. It was her proficiency in that field that led Voldemort to her. It was her love for him that led to her demise."

George's head began to swim. After all these years, it was still hard for him to think about his sister and her descent into the dark arts. He began worrying about the affects witnessing such an event as The Turning could have on his own daughter's psyche. Turning again to the house, he began running to be with his daughter.

Carolyn was still sobbing when George entered her bedroom. Seeing her lying on her bed weeping caused his heart to ache for her.

"Carolyn," he whispered. "Can we talk?"

"Go away," she mumbled into her pillow. George ignored her demand, sat beside her on the bed, and began caressing her hair.

"Pumpkin," he began, "you saw what happened at the clearing tonight. We should talk about it. I know you have so many questions about what you saw."

Carolyn rose up and faced her father. Torment was etched on her young face.

"I saw my family perform a dark ritual," she shouted. "How could you be a part of that?"

George flinched at his daughter's accusation. As he looked upon her tormented face, he began weeping himself.

"Pumpkin," he whispered. "That was not dark magic you witnessed."

"Uncle Gaspar committed suicide," she wailed. "And God knows what happened to Gregory. Did he absorb Gaspar's magic? How is that not dark?"

"Carolyn," Gaspar said from the door. "I would like to explain to you, everything involved with The Turning." Carolyn looked at her great uncle's ghost with a mixture of fear and hatred. "I will explain everything to you, if you promise not to interrupt. Afterwards, if you still have questions, your father and I can answer them."

"It doesn't matter what you say," Carolyn said. "There is no excuse for using dark magic, even if it's tradition."

Gaspar floated over to her and sat in the chair by her bed.

"My darling niece," he began. "You are so like your aunts and cousins. I am not one bit surprised that you feel this way. I want to tell you about The Turning, if you still believe that it is an evil practice, then I will instruct all of our ancestral ghosts to leave Grace Hill, and the ceremony will never be performed again." Carolyn looked at her uncle suspiciously.

"In 1633," Gaspar began, "Gellerd Grace learned that he was dying. He called his son to his side and made him promise to continue the family name and make the family a success. He cast a spell that transferred his magic to his son George. Now George was a powerful wizard in his own right, but with the additional magic of his father, it seemed that George's power could rival that of Merlin himself.

"Unfortunately, Gellerd's son suffered from the same weakness that every George in our family suffers from," Gaspar continued eyeing his nephew. "George loved muggles. He always wanted to help them and work with them. Naturally, in seventeenth century England this was something that purebloods would not tolerate. Wizards across England subtly conspired to ruin George's reputation among the muggles. They murdered his workers and blamed their deaths on the Plague. They stole his inventory and replaced them with bibles, which were illegal to import into Muggle England back then. They did everything in their power to destroy him, but George persevered. He came to Virginia in 1635 aboard The Globe, carrying with him his father's spirit and his vow to make the family successful.

"Once he arrived, George made several business arrangements and began buying and collecting land from his debtors. He returned to England several times but always came back to Virginia. By 1669, George and Agnes, his wife, had accumulated quite a bit of wealth in both the muggle and wizarding worlds. George decided that from then on, he would remain in Virginia with his family. He found that he, like his father was becoming terminally ill, so he called his son to his side, precisely 37 years after his father did the same. George and his son Grover cast enchantments around their family property, which they named Grace Hill. These enchantments hid the property from the muggle world and repelled any curious enough to try to approach. Afterwards, George and Grover erected a monument to the ship that brought their family to their fortuitous new home.

"To consecrate the monument, George made a vow to remain with the family estate, in spirit, to help his descendants maintain our fortunes and protect the land. Grover made a vow as well to use every power he had available to him to keep his father's legacy alive. When George cast the spell to transfer his own power to his son, he too died, leaving only his spirit to guide his son. Since then, every thirty-seven years, the first son of the Grace heir has taken control of the family's fortunes and guided them through another era of prosperity. Our protection extends to not only our lands, but the lands surrounding us as well. Unfortunately, the amount of magic each heir acquires is bound to the land and the magic within it. The family patriarch slowly begins to die the moment he takes the mantle. When we give our power to our heir, we give everything to them, including our lives.

"What you saw as a dark ritual in that clearing my dear," Gaspar said, looking at Carolyn's tear streaked face, "was nothing of the sort. It was the ultimate in light magic. It was the willing surrender of one's self to another so that all would benefit."

"But how can magic that destroys you like that not be dark," Carolyn asked.

"Because it is a willing sacrifice we make," Gaspar replied. "Tonight, Gregory took an oath to use all of his power to protect what we have built. Our success as a family, as well as the success of those around us is protected by the magic of self-sacrifice. In our ultimate display of love for our family, friends, and neighbors, they prosper and survive. My love for all of you and for this area makes leaving my body so much easier. And now, I can spend eternity helping my descendants protect others."

A thought occurred to Carolyn. "What if Gregory doesn't have a son by the next turning? Will Kevin have to take over?"

"If he is willing," Gaspar answered. "If he wishes not to take the position, the next oldest Grace male will be asked. No one is ever forced into this position. Even if Gregory does have a son, if that son is unwilling to become the next patriarch, he will not be forced. It is only out of love and self-sacrifice that the magic works."

"What would happen," Carolyn asked tentatively, "if no one was willing to take Gregory's place in thirty-seven years?"

Gaspar thought about this for a few moments before casting his now spectral gaze on his grand niece.

"I am afraid that I do not know," he said. "Theoretically, the protections on the lands and the family would simply end. But then, there is over three hundred years of magic built into these lands. I am afraid I do not know."

Carolyn still did not fully understand the magic of the ritual, but she slowly accepted her uncle's promise that it was not dark magic. After a fitful night's sleep, she awoke late the next morning to begin putting what she saw the night before behind her forever. She began by placing an order for a new broom, which she had delivered to her home. She then informed her brother that she would be re-learning to use a proper broom instead of learning to control one with her ring power. By August 31, Carolyn was a better flyer than she was before her ring showed its power.


	6. Ch 05: Willowood

**Chapter Five:**

**Willowood**

The morning of September 1 was by far the most hectic day Carolyn had experienced since coming to Grace Hill. Everyone was busy re-packing their things and getting ready to leave. Carolyn had already packed her school things, and Geely had taken everything else home. Carolyn was not certain how they would be getting to school, so she freed Alcina from her cage that morning and told her to fly to Willowood.

Mid-morning found Carolyn at the stables saying good-bye to Rachel, Glenda and the equines, which she had become friends with over the past month. As she was bidding farewell to Heron, Carolyn looked over to the stalls where the thestrals were kept and witnessed again as she had since the day after The Turning, the dark beauty that the creatures possessed.

"Your father told me about your late night adventure," Glenda said from behind her. "So now you see them."

Carolyn only nodded, afraid to speak, lest her voice break.

"I am so deeply sorry that you had to witness my brother's transfer," Glenda continued. "It can be quite alarming, I am told."

Giving a sigh, Carolyn turned to her great aunt. "Yes Aunt Glenda. I don't like that it has to be done, but I do know that the men who choose to do it, do so out of love. Dad and Uncle Gaspar explained everything to me."

"But you still find it difficult to understand everything yes?"

"Yes," Carolyn answered.

"So do I," Glenda said. "Perhaps, if you put it out of your head until later, someday you will understand."

"Maybe," Carolyn said. Then, turning to look at the thestrals again, an impish thought occurred to her. "But then, maybe more good came out of this whole thing than anyone thought."

"And what would that be," Aunt Glenda asked.

"At least next time I visit, I can ride the thestrals," Carolyn giggled at her aunt's shocked expression.

"You are," Glenda said as she regained her composure, "without doubt, your father's daughter."

Laughing together, Carolyn and Glenda exited the stables just in time to see Kevin running out of the back door of the house. As he dashed past them, Carolyn could swear she heard him mumble something about leaving his broomstick in the shed. Carolyn didn't have the heart to tell him that he was actually carrying it.

Carolyn headed for the house intent on finding her father to learn when they would leave for Willowood and how they would travel. Entering the main part of the house, she heard her father's raised voice coming from the rear parlor. Going to the door, she saw he was having a floo conversation with her mother.

"It's bad enough that you constantly put work ahead of the family," her father was saying. "Now you are telling me that you don't care that your daughter witnessed her great uncle's death?"

"George, grow up," her mother retorted. "And allow your daughter to do so as well. It is not as though Gaspar's death was violent. From all reports, the transition is painless and instant. Not to mention that he willingly did this."

"That is not the point and you know it," George said. "You know that it was witnessing Gaspar's ascension that caused Carol to become what she did."

"Oh for crying out loud George," her mother sighed. "Carol witnessed The Turning twelve years before she went to England to become a Death Eater. She was causing trouble long before that. You remember all of the trouble she had you causing people."

"All I am saying," Her father said, "is that if Carol hadn't witnessed Grandfather's death, she may not have become so interested in that form of magic."

"If you are so worried about Carolyn being scarred, why don't you just obliviate the memory of the event."

Carolyn's father stood in the middle of the parlor his mouth agape. Carolyn too could not believe what she had just heard. Her mother wanted to erase her memory.

"I am not obliviating my daughter," her father said slowly and evenly. "How dare you even suggest it?"

"I only suggested it," her mother replied, "because you seem so worried about the effects the memory will have on her. Personally, I believe that she will be fine. If she shows indications of becoming a dark witch, we can then intercede. Otherwise, I suggest allowing her to handle things her own way. You have said yourself that she has rebounded quickly and behaved normally since. I do not see a problem."

"You wouldn't," her father retorted, "because you're never here."

"George, we will discuss this when you get home," her mother said. "For now, however, I have work to do."

With a wave of her hand, Carolyn's mother disappeared from the flames and they subsided to nothing. Her father looked as though he was about to jump into the fireplace himself. Carolyn waited a moment before taking a tentative step forward.

"Daddy," she began. "What time are we leaving for Willowood?"

Her father turned to her and forced a smile onto his face, which was still flushed.

"Soon Pumpkin," he said. "I was just speaking with your mother. She sends her best on your first day."

Carolyn opted not to inform her father that she knew what her mother had actually said. Instead, she put a smile on her own face.

"I take it she's still pretty busy huh?"

"Yes sweetie," her father said. "This case seems to have her consumed."

"She'll figure it out," Carolyn said. "So, how are we getting to school?"

"Well," her father began, chuckling at his daughter's ability to turn positive. "I thought we'd take a portkey, if you're up for it."

Carolyn's smile slipped just slightly. The last time she travelled by portkey, she vomited for nearly ten minutes. Nevertheless, after everything she had went through this month, she decided that a little travel sickness would be nothing.

"I can handle it now, daddy," she said bringing her smile back.

"Good. Go make sure your stuff is in the foyer, and I'll have the house elves take them to the school."

"Ok, daddy," she said heading out the door.

"And if you run into your brother, make sure his stuff is ready too."

As Carolyn dashed off to her room to gather her luggage, she passed Kevin coming out of his.

"Kevin, dad says to have your trunks in the foyer," she said as her brother ran past her.

"Dooble will get them," Kevin said stopping short. Turning he gave Carolyn a panicked look. "You haven't seen my Storm bag have you? I have my Quidditch pads and mom and dad's old books in it."

"It's on your back," Carolyn said laughing. "And put on your school robes."

Carolyn turned and went into her own room to do the very same thing. Once she was dressed, she noticed her mother's diary on the nightstand. _Wouldn't do to leave this behind_, she said to herself. She grabbed up her own Storm bag and stuffed the diary inside. Hooking her arms through the straps, she hoisted the bag onto her back and grabbed her trunk handle along with Alcina's cage, and began lugging them to the foyer.

About an hour later, after assuring Kevin that Gregory would forward anything he left behind, Mr. Grace had both of his children in the foyer standing around a rusty whisk. It was only noon, but Mr. Grace and Kevin thought it would be a good idea to arrive early so Carolyn could explore the school before the welcome feast. As the clocks struck the hour, the whisk began to glow blue. Suddenly, each of the three touched a section of the portkey just before feeling a tug from behind their navel.

Carolyn, her father and brother were caught up in a vortex of swirling colors, shapes, and scenes. From the moment, that she felt the tug, Carolyn began building up what felt would be the most explosive expulsion of food ever witnessed. Just when she thought that she was going to release her breakfast, she began falling. Instantly, her hand warmed and she switch from falling to flying, coming in to land smoothly next to a disheveled Kevin who lay sprawled on the ground next to a gate. Her father landed next to her and bent to help Kevin to his feet. Carolyn had just enough time to think that the trip wasn't so bad before she felt her stomach convulse and she vomited where she stood.

Nearly ten minutes later, the convulsing stopped and Carolyn felt as if she was over her trauma. Unfortunately, for her, she ran out of stomach contents five minutes earlier. Kevin gave her a sympathetic look as he used a cleaning charm on her face and clothes.

"Tergeo," her father said pointing his wand to the mess at his daughter's feet. Carolyn's pallor began returning to normal as she watched her father siphon the bile from the ground.

"I guess a portkey was kind of a bad idea, huh?" Carolyn said when everything was cleaned up. She gave a quick look around to make certain no one had been around to see her be sick. Relieved that they were alone, Carolyn then began surveying her surroundings.

"Welcome to Willowood," Kevin said, as Carolyn looked at the gate. The wrought-iron barrier was set into a twenty-foot high wall made of stone. On the left side of the gate was a plaque bearing a six-pointed star. Each point of the star was a different color, light blue, tan, green, red, yellow, and purple. The center of the star was a golden hexagon with the word ערבה עץ etched across the middle.

"Is that Arabic," she asked, tracing her fingers across the lettering.

"No, it's Hebrew lettering spelling out Willowood," her father said. "The literal translation is Tree of the Prairie."

"Why Hebrew," Carolyn asked.

"That is an interesting story," her father replied. "Once you get placed, you will be given a handbook that gives you the rules and requirements of the school and your dorm, as well as a history of each. I suggest you keep the handbook with you so you can refer to it any time you need it."

"Dad's right," Kevin added. "If you get in a situation that you're not sure of, the book is a good guide for what you are and aren't allowed to do."

"Can't you just tell me?" Carolyn asked.

"Well," her father said as he began leading them through the gate. "We have a bit of a walk, so I suppose I can give you a brief telling."

As they began walking the pathway that led from the gate, George Grace began telling his children the history of the Willow Wood.

"You all know that Willowood accepts and celebrates all faiths. It wasn't always like that. In 1700, when Pious Trench and Hespa Norr founded the school, everyone in the area was of the Christian faith. The two founders, both deeply religious, decided to found their school based on Christian values and stories. One of Hespa's favorite stories involved the crucifixion of Christ. It was said that the tree, which was used to make the cross was the strongest, most durable tree in the world, the dogwood. While Jesus carried the cross, the soldiers mocked him by draping him in a purple robe and fashioning a crown made from the thorns of the willow tree.

"Legend has it," Mr. Grace continued, "that when the two trees saw that they were being used to torture such a divine being, they began to transform themselves. The dogwood shriveled and became weak so that it would never again be used to torture another soul. To show it's remorse, every year as the anniversary of the crucifixion arrives, the dogwood offers blossoms in the shape of a cross to remind others of its shame. The willow tree was just as remorseful. This tree was so saddened that its thorns had pricked the flesh of Jesus that its thorns opened up and the boughs of the tree began to droop in perpetual sorrow.

"To this day, no matter how old the tree gets, the dogwood remains the smallest and weakest, and its blooms return each year to remind us of its sin. And the willow still weeps for its part in the torture of the savior."

"That is so beautiful," came a voice from behind the trio. Turning, they saw a young girl with long dark hair walking close behind them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," said the girl, "but when I heard you start the story, I couldn't help myself."

"It's quite alright," said Mr. Grace. "At any rate," he continued. "Many claim that Pious, out of love and respect for Hespa, travelled to Jerusalem and searched for the trees. When he found the original trees, he tried to bring them back, but the trees refused to leave the site of their shame. The Willow however, offered a piece of itself to Pious, so that wherever he takes it, it could comfort those who believed. Pious brought back the willow branch, which he planted at the very center of the property, where Hespa was building their school. In honor of their faith, they named their school Willowood. Now, three hundred years later, that branch has grown into a magnificent tree, which still sits at the center of these grounds and offers comfort and solace to those who are in need."

"It sounds wonderful," said the dark-haired girl. "Are you a teacher here?"

Mr. Grace gave a chuckle. "No," he said. "I'm just a parent. These are my children Kevin and Carolyn," he said nodding to each in turn. They had come to the front entrance of the school and stopped just outside the doors. The young girl shook each of their hands.

"My name's Drew, Drew Epicene," she said. "So, if this school has such a religious history, are there like religious studies here?"

"Not at all," Kevin said. "But if you want to bring in your own texts, they have no problems with it. We do have several groups that use various classrooms for religious observances, but nothing formal."

"Well, let's head in and meet Deans Jarrel and Hungorn," Mr. Grace said.

As the quartet stepped into the grand foyer of Willowood school, a slender witch in yellow robes approached them.

"George Grace." The witch grabbed Mr. Grace by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Merlin's pants, you never change. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were just coming in to finish your senior year." Smiling she turned her attention to Kevin. "And Kevin, it's wonderful to see you again. Although I understand that you will not be spending as much of your free time in the greenhouses this year."

"Yes, Ms. Haas," Kevin said. "I've taken extra classes, and with quidditch and being dorm monitor, I'm afraid my time will be limited."

"Well then, let's hope that your grades don't suffer as a result of these extra duties," she said before turning to Carolyn and Drew. "You must be Carolyn."

"Yes ma'am," Carolyn said.

"Welcome to Willowood," Ms. Haas said. "I know for a fact that Kevin takes after his dad, let's just hope that you do as well."

"I think she puts both her mother and me to shame," said Mr. Grace.

_Haas_, Carolyn thought. _She mentioned the greenhouses. Is she the Herbology teacher?_

"Excuse me Ms. Haas," Carolyn said. "You mentioned the greenhouses. Does that mean you teach Herbology?"

"I do," said the teacher. "In fact, I not only teach Kevin, and now you, but I also taught your parents."

"And she still doesn't look old enough to be teaching anyone," Carolyn's father added.

_Holy schnike_, Carolyn thought. _She's Ms. Hags!_ Carolyn looked at her new teacher critically. _She doesn't seem so bad now. Maybe she mellowed out after mom's first year_.

Turning her attention to the fourth person in the group, Ms. Hags, err- Haas smiled brightly.

"Hello again Drew," she said. "I am glad to see that you made it. Did your mother bring you?"

"No ma'am," Drew answered. "She sent me by coach. She's still not ready for this."

"Understandable," Ms. Haas said with a frown. "She'll come around, I promise. Well, if you'll all follow me, I'll take you to the dining hall, Dean Jarrel is in there." Turning, Ms. Haas led them to a corridor on the right. Carolyn and drew fell back a few steps.

"How did she know your name," Carolyn asked. "Did your parents go here too?"

"No," Drew answered. "I didn't know we were magical until Ms. Haas brought my invitation. Turns out, my mom went to Salem, but dropped out early and hasn't practiced magic since. She won't tell me why, but I can tell it makes her sad."

"I'm sorry," Carolyn said, and then brightening, she continued. "If we get into the same dorm, if you want, we can share a room."

"I'd like that," Drew said smiling for the first time since meeting the Graces. The girls picked up their pace to catch up with the others.

William Jarrel was not a tall man, by any standard. In fact, if he were a bit taller, he could easily pass for a dwarf or goblin. Carolyn's jaw dropped when her father introduced them to the Dean of Willowood, whom she towered over by a good foot. Realizing her reaction, she quickly closed her mouth as her father made introductions.

"William," her father began. "It is good to see you again."

"Ah, George," the head of the school said in a very high-itched voice. "It is wonderful to have you back in this hall. What do I owe this delight?"

"I've come to introduce my daughter and see her settled before tonight's feast."

"Excellent," the dean said. Turning to Drew, Dean Jarrel extended his hand. "Miss Grace, your brother has spoken very highly of you. I look forward to seeing you excel n your classes as he has."

"I'm not-" Drew began. Then turning red, she looked to Carolyn for help.

"I'm sorry Dean Jarrel," Carolyn said. "This is my friend Drew. Drew Epicene, Dean Jarrel."

"Quite right," Dean Jarrel chuckled at his error. "Terribly sorry my dear, it's the hair, it puts me so much in mind of the two mister Graces," he said indicating George and Kevin. "However, the same hope applies to you as well. I expect that you will shine like a new star at Willowood."

"Thank you sir," drew whispered, blushing furiously.

Finally turning to Carolyn, Dean Jarrel extended his hand to the correct person.

"And Miss Grace, correct?" he asked raising his eyebrows and grinning.

"Yes sir."

"Can I expect the same behavior your brother shows in your work?"

"I'll try my best sir," Carolyn said.

"Excellent," the dean squeaked. "Now, if you like, you can leave your things in the hall while you explore the grounds. The welcome feast begins at six, but the term officially begins at five. Please be back to the main hall by then."

"Yes sir," the two younger Graces and Drew said in unison.

Leaving the adults behind, Kevin led the girls out of the dining hall to show them around campus and point out the more interesting sights.

Once they were gone, Dean Jarrel turned to Mr. Grace.

"I am sorry for the confusion George, I expected your daughter to take after you more than her mother."

"Think nothing of it William," Mr. Grace said. "The Grace genes are powerful, but thankfully, she has her mother's beauty."

"And the other girl," the dean continued. "Related by chance?"

"No sir," Mr. Grace said, "we just met her on the walk to the school. I was telling Carolyn the story of the willow, and she was behind us."

"I see," said Jarrel. "Your daughter seems to have taken a liking to her. Perhaps, while they are here, they can help one another overcome their difficulties."

"I don't think I know what you mean." Mr. Grace's confused look seemed to capture the dean's attention.

"Oh you know George," Jarrel said. "First year at a new school, everyone has a difficult time at first."

"Of course," Mr. Grace said.

"This is the famous Willow Tree," Kevin was saying. They had come to the center of the grounds, where a magnificent weeping willow stood. The fifty-foot high tree sported boughs, which spanned an easy thirty feet across. The trunk of the grand tree was easily two feet across, and the cascade effect of the leaves, gave one a sense of serenity just looking at it. Carolyn suspected that many of Willowood's students and staff have found themselves under these branches seeking peace for one thing or another.

"And as you can see," Kevin continued. "All six dorms surround the tree, with the rest of the campus extending outwards. Across from the Aether Dorm are the gymnasium and sports fields for quidditch, surfing, and racing." Kevin pointed out the interesting aspects of the campus as he led the girls to the front of the dorms. Walking clockwise between the dorms and the other buildings, he pointed out the greenhouses and fields across from the Ponus Dorm, where the Herbology, Magical Botany, Agriculture, and Zoology classes met. Situated behind the main building, which housed the dining hall, administrative offices, Potions, and Alchemy classes, stood the Tyche Dorm. The Vishnu Dorm stood behind the building that housed the Charms, Transfiguration, Glamour, and Defense classes. As the trio came upon the next set of buildings, the Komodia Dorms, Drew gave out a short squeal, causing the others to stop short. A ghost, who had crossed her path heading into the dorm, had frightened the young girl.

"That is Hugo Huxley," Kevin said. "He founded the Komodia Dorm in 1738, and has been the patriarch of the dorm since." The ghost, Huxley nodded to the trio before continuing into his dorm. "The building across from the dorm is where you'll go for Divination and the muggle classes," Kevin said pointing to the building across the way. As the trio came to the final dorm, Coeus, Kevin stopped and gestured proudly.

"This is my dorm," he said, "Coeus. Across from it is the oldest building on campus, also the second largest. This is where you'll find the library, as well as your Ancient Runes, Astronomy, Arithmancy, History, Shaman Studies, and Clerical Studies." The girls looked at the five-story building with a bit of trepidation. The sheer size of the building was intimidating in itself, but Carolyn knew that this building would be the one that tested her intellect more than any other would.

As Kevin led the girls back to the main building, they noticed that other students were arriving as well. Three girls and a boy were approaching the main building with their trunks.

"Must be more new sixth graders," Kevin said. "Otherwise, they'd be taking their trunks to their dorms. Come on, let's introduce ourselves."

As Carolyn, Kevin, and Drew approached the four new students, Ms. Haas exited the main building to greet them.

"Welcome to Willowood," she said. "If you will follow me, you can leave your trunks in the main hall, and I will take you to the Dining Hall." With that, Ms. Haas turned and the seven students followed her in. Carolyn and Drew were surprised to see that many more students had arrived while Kevin was giving them a tour. One of the girls in the other group let out a snort as she looked into the dining hall.

"I thought my daddy was joking with me," said the black haired girl. "It looks like half the people in there are squibs or charity cases."

"Don't worry Malicia," said the boy said. "Mommy said that the ghosts are good for separating the trash from the quality students."

"That's not very nice," Carolyn said, looking at the two in disgust. All four of the other students turned to look at her.

"And who are you," the black haired girl asked.

"Carolyn Grace. This is my brother Kevin, and our friend Drew," Carolyn said indicating the other two.

"Carolyn and Kevin Grace," said the girl. "Are you Hannah Grace's kids?"

"As a matter of fact," said Kevin.

"Oh my goodness!" the girl squealed. "Auntie Hannah is always talking about you two. I've been waiting forever to meet you!"

"Auntie Hannah?" Kevin asked perplexed.

"Well, not really," said the girl. "She's my daddy's partner in the Auror Office. I'm Malicia Spittori, surely Auntie has told you about me!"

"Um-," said Carolyn.

"Unfortunately," Kevin said. "Mom's been quite busy lately. I'm afraid that when she comes home, we pretty much ignore what we figured was work talk. I'm sorry we've not paid attention if she mentioned you." Kevin's smile would normally win anyone over, but the sixth grade Spittori's smile seemed to freeze in place.

"It's no problem," Malicia said in a tight voice through gritted teeth. "Daddy's always telling me that not every family is as close as ours."

"What-" Carolyn tried.

"Yes," Kevin interrupted again. "We all stay so busy with our own stuff. We barely get time to spend together." Carolyn looked at her mutinous brother in shock as Malicia acquired a gloating posture.

"It's no problem," Malicia sneered. "I suppose that's one of the reasons Auntie chooses to come by the house to discuss work. She must miss having someone take an active interest in her and her work."

"You do realize you're talking about our mother," Carolyn said hotly.

"Oh of course," said Malicia, the picture of innocence. "I'm certain it's not the only reason. After all Spittori Mansion is so close to the DMLE office, plus we have a much larger research library. It makes sense to work from our house occasionally."

"Or maybe your dad's too lazy to go to the office," Drew whispered, bringing a laugh to Carolyn.

"And what was your name?" Malicia asked bringing her attention to bear on Drew.

"Drew," whispered the shy girl.

"I'm sorry?"

"Her name is Drew," Said Carolyn.

"Ah," said Malicia, looking down her nose at Carolyn's friend. "You see Robert. This is what I was saying a moment ago. Willowood is just teeming with charity cases."

"So," retorted Carolyn, her face growing hotter. "We won't treat you any differently. Come on Drew, let's get a seat." Carolyn put her arm around Drew's shoulder and led her into the dining hall before the conversation could get to the point that would cause someone to be expelled.

"It was…" Kevin started. "Welcome to Willowood," he said turning and going into the dining hall himself.

"Well," Malicia said in a huff. "It looks like some people don't know when they're addressing their betters. Come on Robert let's get a seat. You too Alvah, Visha." The foursome followed Kevin into the dining hall at a distance.

As Carolyn and Drew started to sit, Mr. Grace walked up to them. "I'm sorry pumpkin, but I have to leave now. I want you to be good and send me an owl at least once a week."

"Ok daddy," Carolyn said giving her father a hug.

"Drew," Mr. Grace, said, "it was a pleasure to meet you, please keep my daughter out of trouble."

"Yes sir," Drew said with a reluctant smile.

"I saw you girls talking to Rolf Spittori's daughter," Mr. Grace said to Carolyn. "I'm glad you get along. We may spend the holidays together this year." Giving his daughter a kiss, he then headed out of the dining hall.

"Well," mumbled Carolyn. "It looks like we're having Christmas in Hell this year."

Despite her shyness, Drew found herself doubled over in laughter.

Carolyn and Drew took seats next to Kevin who kept looking towards the entrance hall.

"Kev," Carolyn started. "Why were you being so nice to that little witch?"

"Huh?" Kevin said, still looking to the entrance hall.

"The Spittori girl," Carolyn said, snapping her fingers in Kevin's face to get his attention. "Why were you being nice to her after what she was spouting off?"

Kevin looked at his sister, then to Drew. "Here's the thing, Car," he began. "She's the daughter of mom's partner right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Hold on," Kevin said raising his hand. "Mr. Spittori is also mom's superior. Now, some people think that because they're in a better position, or related, or connected to someone in a better position than you, then they can treat you any way you want."

"Then don't you think she should be shown different," Carolyn asked.

"Of course I do," her brother answered. "But here's the thing, if you or I do something to the little rat, then she's gonna run off and tell her dad."

"So-"

"So," Kevin interrupted again. "We're not sure what kind of relationship she has with her father. Now you or me, if we have a problem with a classmate, and run to mom and dad, they encourage us to settle it ourselves. What if Mr. Spittori is different?"

"What, he'd try to arrest us for jinxing her," Carolyn asked.

"Probably not," Kevin said, "but he could talk to mom or worse cause trouble for her at work. So, what we need to do is let his little girl go about her business, being as nasty as she wants to be to people. Eventually, someone will get tired of it, and when they do, our hand are cleans and mom doesn't catch any grief."

"So what you're saying," said Drew. "Is if I were to do something about her, then you guys and your mom would be ok."

"Not really Drew," Kevin said, seeing Carolyn's appreciative grin. "Now that Malicia knows that you two are friends, anything you do to her, she'll assume that we put you up to it, even if it was all your idea."

"Assuming," said Carolyn, "that she knows it was us that did it to her."

"I'm going to say this once Car," Kevin said pointing at his sister. "If I find out that you are starting a war with this girl, I'm gonna owl mom and dad and let them know that you may need to go to Salem instead of here."

"Come on Kevin," Carolyn replied. "I'd never start a war."

"Just stay out of trouble."

"Like you did," a new voice asked.

The trio turned to see a very pretty brunette walking over to the table. Kevin jumped up and welcomed her into his arms.

"Natalee," he said. "I thought you would have been here an hour ago."

"I would have," the girl replied. "But mom wanted to stop by and get something out of her vault, which was a nightmare. Aurors all over the place, I saw your mom."

"Aurors were at Gringott's again," Carolyn asked.

"Oh, Car," Kevin said, noticing his sister was still there. "This is Natalee Leon. Nat, this is my sister Carolyn, and our friend Drew."

After the girls shook hands, Carolyn repeated, "You said there were aurors at Gringott's again?"

"Oh, yeah," Natalee said. "You know that goblin that disappeared?"

"Yeah."

"Well he turned up. They found him dead in a high-security vault. The owner had come in earlier and wanted a withdrawal. It took us three hours just to get someone available to take us to our vault."

Carolyn was stunned. Her mother had spent a month working on that case. Why did no one think to search the vaults before?

"Do they think the owner of the vault had anything to do with it," Carolyn asked.

"Who knows," answered Natalee. "I'm just glad he wasn't in our vault. I'd never have gotten here."

"I'm glad too," Kevin said. "It would be a shame to have to do patrols with Baylee."

"Baylee Mejia would rather drink one of Miss Tow's potions than to walk a patrol with a brat like you," Natalee replied good-naturedly. "Speaking of strange partners, Molly somehow got into Brando's cage as soon as I walked in the doors."

After watching her brother laugh and make goo-goo eyes at his girlfriend for another couple of minutes, Carolyn decided that she and Drew would have more fun sitting somewhere else. Bidding the couple goodbye, the two girls got up to find someplace to sit that wasn't entangled in a scene from a romance novel. Giggling at the spectacle her brother was making, the two girls went to sit at another table while waiting for the dinner to start. Carolyn also made it a point to sit as far from Malicia Spittori as was possible. She did after all want to beat her mother's record by not getting detention on her first night at school. She just hoped that her new enemy didn't turn out the same way her mother's first enemy did. _That would not only be weird_, she thought looking at Spittori, _it would be Hell on Earth_.

As Carolyn sat with Drew on the other side of the Dining Hall, more students came in, sitting at various tables. Carolyn noticed that each table's students wore different colored robes. Those at Kevin's tables wore purple robes, while the ones sitting at the tables where Malicia sat were wearing crimson. The girls also saw students in tan, light blue, emerald, and yellow. Carolyn quickly determined that the students in black robes were likely to be sixth graders, like herself, waiting to be placed in their dorms. Meanwhile, the staff wore deeper colors of the student's robes. Some wore very dark crimson, navy blue, tarnished gold, deep brown, hunter green or dark royal violet. Carolyn assumed that they reflected the color of the dorm they belonged to in their school years. Carolyn wondered to herself which color she would wear, and hoped that she and Drew would be in the same dorm.

"Hi," came a new voice from beside her. "Can I sit here?"

Carolyn looked up to see a chubby blonde witch in black robes standing beside them. Smiling she and Drew scooted over to allow room for the new arrival.

"Thanks," the new witch said. "I'm Dana Collins. You guys sixth grade too?"

"Yes," said Carolyn. "This is my friend Drew Epicene, and I'm Carolyn Grace."

The three girls shook hands and began chatting about the school, magic, and what they wanted to learn most from the school.


	7. Ch 06: Starting Things with a Change

**Chapter Six:**

**Starting Things with a Change**

"Will all sixth years please join us up front," The large witch with the pronounced mole said.

It was precisely six o'clock and the dining hall felt packed with students, teachers, and other staff. Carolyn joined the seventy-one other sixth graders as they made their way to the dais at the front of the hall. As the students lined up on the platform, the witch continued.

"As you older students are aware, I am the Dean of Students, Mrs. Hungorn. It is our tradition at Willowood to allow the founders of our six dorms to choose the new students that they feel will embody the values of the school as a whole, and their dorm in particular. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the ghosts of Willowood Dorms."

As Mrs. Hungorn stepped aside, six ghosts floated through the back wall and came to a stop before the line of sixth graders.

"To the sky!" shouted the first ghost. "Those of daring and nerve, who soar without fear will find home in Aether. Non-conventional thinking and the love for freedom separates us from our brothers and sisters. Come with me and ride the winds of change."

"True power is not a gift, but a goal we must work for," came the second ghost. "'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of the Earth wast thou taken. For dust, thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' These words are as meaningful today as in the days of old. Join me and we will work for our rewards."

"A turn of the card," piped in the third ghost, who was the most flamboyant of all. "A spin of the wheel, a roll of the dice. Why plan and scheme for a fate that may never be. 'The best laid schemes of mice and men oft go awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!' Give over to chance and let the planners and schemers suffer their fate."

The fourth ghost approached. "'Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.' Let your fears be your compass on the path to overcoming them. Those who fear and soldier on in spite of it will find a home with me."

The ghost Carolyn had seen earlier, Hugo Huxley approached the sixth graders next.

"Soar with eagles, toil in the mud, take a chance, soldier on, or even fall deep in thought. No matter how you live, do not forget to live. They say that all work and no play makes for dull boys and girls, so find joy and happiness in whatever you do. Merriment is the wings that give you flight, the nutrient to make you grow, the chance you take, the light for your path, and the most noble thought to man."

"But it is thought that brings us all here," claimed the final ghost. "Knowledge is the prize we all seek. Those who are studious and have a desire to learn join me and we will unlock the secrets of the universe." As he finished, the students and staff applauded the speeches of the six ghosts. After a moment, the last ghost joined the others at the side of the platform, giving the floor once again to Mrs. Hungorn.

"Thank you all," Mrs. Hungorn said. "These six noble ghosts, in their time at Willowood found reason to build their own unique dorms to house the growing student population of this fine school. From the day they opened their homes to today, they have chosen the students who best fit the qualities, they themselves embodied. As I call your name, you will approach, the center of the platform and the ghosts will decide which dorm you will belong in."

A few of the sixth graders looked nervous about this bit of news. Drew particularly nearly fainted.

"It's ok," Carolyn whispered to her. "Ghosts are benevolent spirits that can't harm you in the slightest." Seeing her new friend visibly calm brought a smile to Carolyn's face, which was wiped away when Malicia whispered to Drew as well.

"Unless of course they're wraiths, boggles, phantoms, or poltergeists," Malicia whispered with a nasty grin. "They've been known to do a lot of harm."

Drew's eyes bulged at this as she looked to Carolyn for confirmation.

"Drew, don't worry, you don't think the teachers would allow malevolent ghosts in the school do you?"

"I-I guess not," replied the frightened girl.

"Brenda Adams," called Mrs. Hungorn.

A pretty, blonde haired girl walked up to the center of the stage as the ghosts floated over to join her. When they were all in place, the ghosts began rapidly floating around her, making it appear as though she was in the middle of a cyclone. In less than two seconds, the ghosts separated and Brenda Adams remained at the center, her black robes now a light blue.

"Aether Dorm!" the first ghost called out, as the row of tables closest to the windows erupted into applause.

"Jason Argon," called Mrs. Hungorn. Like, Brenda, Jason strode to the center of the platform. He too was surrounded by the rapid flight of the ghosts for a couple of seconds. When the ghosts separated this time, Jason was wearing tan robes.

"Ponus Dorm!" the second ghost called out as her students applauded just as wildly as the Aether's did for Brenda.

"Nigel Armstrong," Mrs. Hungorn called. When Nigel approached the center, he too was enveloped in the vortex of ghosts before being released a couple of seconds later wearing crimson robes.

The ghost that announced "Vishnu Dorm" reminded Carolyn of an Amazon warrior woman, with her strong build, square jaw, sword, and shield. The choosing continued with Freddy Bourne going to Vishnu and Alex Bradshaw going to Aether. Harriette Brannigan became the first Tyche, as Alvah Brash, one of the girls with Malicia Spittori became a Vishnu. Carolyn and Drew watched as 13 more students were chosen. Three went to Coeus, four to Tyche, two to Komodia, one each to Vishnu and Ponus, and two to Aether. Finally, Drew was called to the center. Carolyn watched as the ghosts circled around her friend and less than a second later, she emerged with the light blue robes of-

"Aether Dorm!" Carolyn applauded just as loudly as the Aether students did, while watching Drew go join her dorm mates. Four Coeus students, a Ponus, a Tyche, a Vishnu, and another Aether student later, Carolyn was called to the center by Mrs. Hungorn.

Carolyn stepped to the center of the stage and watched as the ghosts slowly began circling her. Carolyn was amazed that they were moving so slowly. They had swept around the other student so quickly.

"She's brave," said the Amazon. "But she doesn't put her courage first."

"I see the inner gambler in her," said the flamboyant one. "But no, she doesn't _feel_ right."

"What do you believe to be the best way to sort a new student." The bespectacled Coeus ghost asked.

"I'm not sure," Carolyn, answered.

"She's definitely not afraid of hard work," interjected the Ponus ghost. "But she is easily distracted."

"Oh, I agree," said the jovial Hugo Huxley. "She knows joy without bounds, but her happiness is too easily disrupted by others. You see, she still looks cross over the Spittori girl's comments."

"She was rude to my friend and disrespectful to my brother and me," Carolyn responded.

"Yes child," said the ghost with windswept hair. "But rather than allow the girl to wallow in her own misery, you flew off the handle, so to speak."

"Where do you think you belong?" Each ghost asked her that same question in turn until all were asking at once.

"I'd like to go to Aether with Drew," Carolyn finally said.

"So be it," the ghosts said in unison, as Carolyn's robes became the light blue of…

"Aether Dorm!" her dorm ghost called to a round of applause from the Aether table.

Carolyn was perplexed as she walked to her new dorm table. Once she sat beside her friend, she leaned over and whispered in Drew's ear.

"I can't figure out why they took so long with me. Everyone else was chosen in a couple of seconds."

"Carolyn." Drew said. "They barely started before they separated and gave you the blue robes. It took them a few minutes to put me into Aether, and they only did it because I told them this is where I'd like to go."

An older girl next to Drew had overheard the conversation and leaned in.

"That's the great hidden secret of the choosing," she said. "Whoever is being surrounded thinks it's taking a few minutes, but it's actually a second or two. In the end, the ghosts have never chosen anyone, they always ask us where we want to go."

Carolyn and Drew's jaws dropped. Her brother had been at this school for four whole years and he never once bothered to mention this to her. She shot a scathing look to the Coeus table only to find him sitting there with a huge grin on his face. Carolyn stuck out his tongue, which caused Kevin to laugh out loud, interrupting Mrs. Hungorn announcing George Hardaway. After a disapproving look from the Dean of Students, Kevin waved to his sister and turned to whisper something into Natalee's ear, causing her to hide her own giggle.

Watching the choosing continue, Carolyn was relieved to see that Malicia Spittori and her three friends, Alvah Brash, Visha Hale, and Robert Tierney, all went to Vishnu. After the choosing, where each dorm received 12 new students, six boys and six girls, the school's house elves served dinner to the students and staff. The sight of the diminutive servants at first startled Drew, but once she saw their subservient attitudes, she began looking at them with pity.

"Why do they wear those rags," she whispered to Carolyn.

"Who?"

"The servers," Drew whispered.

"Oh," Carolyn said, looking up at the house elf passing their section of the table. "It's a symbol of their position. If whoever owns them, gives them clothes, they are set free."

"Owns them?" Drew asked as Carolyn returned to her sirloin.

"Yeah," Carolyn said. "The house elves are bound to certain people or houses until they die or are set free. But don't worry, most families are so attached to their elves, the elves would have to be seriously disloyal to be set free."

"That's slavery," Drew said appalled.

"That's an old argument there," said the older boy across from them. "The truth is house elves serve wizards because they want to. It's an ancient contract they have with us."

"How can anyone want to be a slave?" Drew asked him.

"They don't see themselves as slaves," he replied. "They see us as their wards. You see, their magic is actually greater than our own. So, they see their positions in our homes more as protectors than servants."

"But you own them and you can banish them from your homes?" Drew asked.

"Yes, but only if their work no longer meets standards or if they become so opposed to us that they can no longer be loyal."

"So if their magic is so much better, why don't they just dismiss their family and wait for a new one?"

"Part of the ancient contract requires that in their efforts to help their families, the 'owners' have to be the dominant personality," the older boy explained. "There are some less respectable witches and wizards who abuse that position, but if house elves have a mind to, they could actually take over the magical world and make us their slaves."

"So because they're stronger than us, they agreed to become our slaves," Drew said incredulous.

"If that's how you want to look at it," said the boy. "You'll learn about it in History of Magic. And you can hear it from someone who is an expert on the subject."

"Who" asked Drew, "the wizard that made the contract?"

"Nope," said the boy as he pointed to the staff tables. "Her."

Looking up to the staff table, the two girls wondered which of the witches taught History of Magic. Suddenly Carolyn's eyes focused a bald little head barely surfacing above the table.

"We have a house elf as a teacher," she asked.

"Former house elf," said the boy. "She used to be a Willowood elf, but one day she approached the dean and asked for clothes, then she asked for a job. She's been teaching here since my grandpa went to school."

Carolyn was flabbergasted, although she had enormous respect for Geely, and all other house elves, she never knew of one that willing asked for clothes, let alone taught school. From what the boy said, that meant that she was here when her parents went to school. Neither of them, nor Kevin had told her this either. It looks like this year is going to be more interesting than she could have ever hoped.

"What is your name?" Carolyn asked the boy.

"Oh, sorry," he said holding out his hand. "My name's Ken Reese, Eighth Grade Student Rep."

As the girls shook his hand, Drew asked, "Student rep for what?"

"With the administration counsel," he said. "Basically, one representative from each grade along with the student president meets with the school board and the deans to discuss what the students need, any major problems the students have with the school, and what to expect from the school throughout the year. We also coordinate with the school monitors and the student judiciary on appropriate punishments and new rules for students and staff. Of course staff rules have to be approved by the school board, but it gives everyone a vote."

"So how do you become a representative," Drew asked.

"The sixth grade rep is appointed by the dean before they even get their letters, it's completely random, so anyone can be chosen. But, throughout the year, anyone who wants to be a representative next year campaigns and close to the end of the year, the whole school votes for the person of their year that they want. Last year, most of the seventh graders voted for me, so, here I am."

"I have got a lot to learn," Drew sighed as she stabbed a piece of broccoli with her fork.

"Don't worry," replied Carolyn. "With all the information my brother gave me, so do I."

As the two dug into their meal Ken gave a short laugh and continued his own meal. In no time, everyone had gotten their fill, and the house elves, banished the dirty dishes and leftovers from the tables. Everyone quieted as Dean Jarrel rose to address the crowd.

"It is so good to see everyone returning for another year," he began. "And to the sixth graders, I would like to say welcome. It is my hope that what you learn here over the next seven years will enrich your lives, and that your experiences will enrich ours." The school dean paused while the students and teachers gave him a polite applause.

"We are all fortunate to be here this year in particular, as this year will see some wonderful changes at Willowood, and indeed every magical school in America. We will see some changes in our academics, athletics, and other extra-curricular activities," the professor paused again to look out at the surprised faces of his students. "Let us begin with our academics. This year, for the first time, we will be teaching three subjects, which have been woefully ignored in America. I would like to introduce to you Mr. Horace Robards, our new Runology teacher. Welcome Patience Collier, our new instructor of Rune Casting. And finally, please welcome the legendary Wesley Wallace, our new Wand Lore instructor." Dean Jarrel waited patiently as each new teacher and his or her subject was introduced.

"For the record, each of these classes is targeted for our upperclassmen, with Wand Lore only being available for our juniors and seniors," the professor announced after Mr. Wallace's applause died down.

"Now for our athletic changes," Dean Jarrel continued. "Beginning this year, our six dorms will no longer compete for a school championship in Quidditch."

The dean had to stop speaking while every student in the dining hall reacted to this news. None of them was taking it well. Carolyn looked over to see her brother was one of the more vocal opponents to this change.

"Please," Dean Jarrel waved his hand to try to restore order. The students continued their protests even when the dean drew his wand and pointed it to his throat.

"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE," the dean's magically enhanced voice called out over the roar of the students. Gradually the students quieted giving the dean an opportunity to explain himself.

"As I was saying," Jarrel continued in his normal voice. "Instead of competing for a school championship, the six dorms of Willowood will compete in a tournament each year. The six dorms will be paired off in the preliminary round with the three winning teams advancing. Those three teams will compete in round-robin matchups with the two teams whom have accumulated the most points competing for the finals. Those two teams will face each other for the honor of representing Willowood in a single elimination national tournament with the other four magical schools in America. The ultimate winning team will become crowned the National Scholastic Quidditch Champions."

As the dean finished his summation, the students once again erupted with noise, this time of jubilation. Although the four schools had competed against one another in other sports, this is the first time that they would get the opportunity to face off in quidditch. Dean Jarrel waited patiently allowing the noise to subside naturally this time. After a few minutes, he once again began speaking.

"Finally," he began. "Since the fall of he-who-must-not-be-named, schools around the world have instituted their own dueling clubs. Some offer them only to upperclassmen, while others offer the opportunity to all students."

The students once again began murmuring at this news. This would be a pleasant surprise for the students who would get to take advantage of it.

"After discussing things with our defense teacher, Miss Dimwither, I have decided to allow access to our new dueling club to all students who wish to utilize it." A roaring round of applause accompanied this announcement. As once again, the dean called for silence.

"This club will be conducted as any other activity sponsored by the school. Participation is voluntary, but if you make a commitment to it, we ask that you fulfill that commitment. As with any activity, however, your continued presence is dependent on your academic performance. Furthermore, to alleviate the random outbreak amongst students who cannot get along, I am re-introducing the laws of challenge in this school.

"If two individuals find that they cannot get along and that the only way to end their problems is with wands, one student may challenge another to a duel. Both participants will have one second and their duels will be held publicly, with a referee and spectators. These duels will be conducted honorably and adhere to the contracts of the meetings. If a challenge is issued and accepted, both participants will come before me, Miss Dimwither, or Ms. Willowby, who aside from her duties as school counselor will administer the dueling contracts in order to discuss the rules and work on the conditions of each engagement."

"Naturally, any student challenged may refuse," Dean Jarrel continued. "However, if they do, they essentially forfeit the duel and are therefore forbidden from issuing challenges based on events prior to their forfeit."

The students began murmuring amongst themselves again, discussing the implications these changes would have on the school. With a smile of satisfaction, the professor cleared his throat once more.

"With all of this excitement," he said, "and a full belly, I all of a sudden find myself quite sleepy. If I could ask our dorm monitors to escort the sixth graders to their new homes, I will see you all again in the morning."

With that, the staff and students rose to their feet and began exiting the dining hall. Ken Reese called another young wizard in light blue robes over.

"Cyril Tolliver," he said when the boy approached. "Please escort these ladies to our dorm, I have to speak with James about something before I head over."

"Yes sir," the boy Cyril said. Turning to the girls, he said, "Ladies, this way please."

Cyril led Drew, Carolyn and the ten other Aether sixth graders to their dorm and explained the rules of the dorm to them. The boy's rooms and girls rooms were on opposite ends of the dorm covering the second and third floors. The genders were separated by a wall that bisected the two floors. The main floor consisted of the lounge, where students could gather between classes or at the end of the day and play games, chat, or just hang out. Also was the study hall, where those who wanted a bit more quiet time, could go and do their homework. The pride of the Aether dorm however was their simulation room.

In this room, students could take a training broom and practice their flying. The room magically simulated a large area that offered the user his or her choice of weather conditions. Unfortunately, only one student could use it at a time, but it was a wonderful tool to help the younger students hone their skills if they desired joining one of the dorm teams.

After the tour of the dorms, Cyril led the sixth grade boys to their rooms while a sophomore girl, who introduced herself as Morgana Isringhouse, led the girls upstairs. Dorm rooms were assigned so that each one housed three students. Carolyn found that besides Drew, she would be sharing a room with Brenda Adams. The remaining three sixth grade girls, Dana Collins, Jessica Isringhouse (Morgana's sister,) and Leanne Kruger would be in the room next door. All six girls would also share the same bathroom as well as a smaller common area where they could do their homework with some modicum of privacy.

_September 15, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_Jake wrote to me today from T of H. He says that the healers can't restore his face because they can't figure out what spell was used. They had thought it was a diffindo that Grace threw at him. But the healers say they can't find any trace of the spell. I talked to the Hags again today, she swears that if it was a spell that did the kind of damage that Nurse Winslet can't heal and the healers can't identify, there is no way that a seventh grader could have done it._

_Jake told me that he may not be able to come back to school for the rest of the year. He left the school three days ago and I already miss him so much. I've got to do something to get even with George Grace. He can't get away with what he did._

_Hannah Mercer_

_(Sixth Grade)_

Carolyn had been reading her mother's diary for the past half hour. Aside from complaining about her detentions and missing her friend's presence, Carolyn's mother had little to say during the week following Jake's injury. Carolyn noted that Jake had been moved to Testament of Hippocrates on the 12th, and that the damage he suffered was something that the school nurse couldn't fix. Carolyn had great trouble believing that her father, the bastion of peace, could have been involved in harming anyone like that. He must have been proven innocent eventually. After all, her mother would never have married someone who was capable of hurting one of her friends like that.

_September 16, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_I've been in the library all day, looking for whatever spell or potion Grace could have used on Jake. I've looked everywhere and can't find anything. I did however find what I'm going to do to get even with him. I found a few references to an item that will turn George Grace into a complete squib. It was just a reference though, so I'll have to keep looking for more information on it._

_I got another owl from Jake today. His parents have decided to home school him. They think that if he comes back he'll be targeted again, and even if he isn't his scars are so bad, they don't want anyone causing him problems over them. I can understand what they mean, but I still miss him so much. I sent him an owl and told him what was going on here, and I sent mom and dad one asking to visit Jake during school breaks._

_One bit of good news, The Hags told me last night that I was finished with detention. I guess now I don't have any excuses for not having my homework finished._

_Hannah Mercer_

_(Sixth Grade)_

_September 17, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_I found something really cool today. It seems that if any student is found to have been defacing school property or causing damage to any student or the property of a fellow student, then the student in question will be expelled from Willowood. Furthermore, any school the student enrolls in afterward will receive a letter from Willowood Administration informing them of the student's behavior causing their expulsion._

_I think that all I have to do is just cause some graffiti and mess with a few students, then find some way of blaming Grace for it, I can get him expelled. If Jake can't be at school with me, then George Grace won't either. I can't wait to see his smug face when he ends up having to go all the way to Ohio or Pennsylvania. If I do it right, I might even be able to keep him from being accepted at those schools._

_Hannah Mercer_

_(Sixth Grade)_

Carolyn's eyes grew heavy as she finished the last entry. Tucking the diary under her pillow, she snuggled under her blanket. Her head was still swimming with the things she had read, so it was little surprise to her when she found herself on the grounds of the school watching silently as a 12 year old with her father's adult face shoot a liquid from his wand into the face of another boy. When the dream Carolyn rushed to the fallen boy's side, she saw that instead of a face, his eyes nose and mouth were made of the sugar cookies Carolyn had tried to make for Christmas last year. The smoking lumps that looked like coal then caused the boy to dissolve and melt into the ground.

Dream Carolyn looked around and found that she was completely alone. She jumped up to run for help, but no matter how far or fast she ran, the buildings never got any closer. All of a sudden, Carolyn found herself trying to fly to the buildings, but she realized her ring was not on her finger. She began falling…

Carolyn sat straight up in bed. Sweat was beading on her forehead, the remnants of her dream still vivid in her mind. She remembered that in the middle of her fall, she saw her mother flying to catch her. As he mother approached, she began to change, her nose extended and became beak like, and her arms became wings and her feet talons. Just as Carolyn was about to grab the harpy that was her mother, her rescuer drew back.

"This is my revenge on George Grace," the harpy cackled.

Carolyn continued to plummet to her doom and woke to the real world only just before hitting the ground. Looking around at her environs, she noticed Drew sitting up in bed looking at her funny.

"Do you smell burnt sugar cookies," Drew asked.

Carolyn shot her friend a strange look before getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. As no one else in the dorm was awake yet, the two girls had no problems grabbing their showers and getting dressed before heading for breakfast. They noticed Brenda begin to stir as they walked out of their rooms and headed for the main building for breakfast.

"It's just past six," Drew was saying, as they stepped into the crisp morning air. "They're probably just starting to cook breakfast, if they're even awake yet."

"By the end of this week," Carolyn giggled, "you'll realize that house elves rarely sleep. They're always ready to feed someone or clean up after them."

Drew looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of the elves, but continued with her new friend looking forward to a nice bowl of cereal. From across the grounds, Carolyn caught sight of the one thing that was guaranteed to ruin her appetite. Malicia Spittori and her friends were coming out of the Vishnu dorm, heading to the main building as well. _Oh well_, Carolyn thought. _There goes my hope of having a quiet breakfast_.

Spittori and her friends surprised Carolyn by practically ignoring the duo as they met to enter the dining hall, which was a good thing as the group found they were not the only early risers at the school. Sitting at the staff tables were two teachers in conversation over a large stack of papers. Both witches wore the black robes of the staff, but the one on the left wore a red pointed hat decorates with black, silver and gold stars. As she took a bite of her eggs, the witch on the right took a sheet from the stack of papers to look it over. Making their way to their respective dorm tables the two groups of students were met by house elves who asked what they would like for breakfast.

After placing their order, Carolyn and Drew took their seats and began discussing what their lives were like before they came to Willowood. Carolyn had barely started telling Drew about her aborted birthday party when one of the teachers approached their table. Carolyn noticed it was the one who had been talking to the red hated witch.

"Miss Epicene, Miss Grace," the teacher began. "I am Mrs. Pinkerton. I am the staff monitor for Aether house."

"Hello Mrs. Pinkerton," the girls said in unison.

"I apologize for not getting to speak with you last night," the witch continued. "I prefer to have a general meeting with my dorm on their first night. Unfortunately, I had other matters to attend to last night. At any rate, I will also be your Charms instructor throughout your academic careers. And according to your schedules," she said, handing each girl a slip of paper. "I will see you at 8:00. Here are your schedules and handbook. You also have Aether's student contacts."

The girls took their schedules and looked them over. The identical slips gave the girls very full days, with classes every day until 4:00 pm and every other day a 9:00 pm Astronomy class and a 7:00 pm Magical Zoology class on the alternating days.

"We have classes six days a week?" Drew asked.

"Apparently," Carolyn answered. "But at least we're better off than some of the upperclassmen. Kevin had Sunday classes last year."

Each girl gave their schedule one last look trying to commit it to memory, and then turned to the second slip Ms. Pinkerton gave them.

_Below is a list of the student government positions. Those holding office will continue to do so until June 15, 2003, when the school term ends. Anyone wishing to hold a position in next year's student government should submit your application to Dean of Students Hazel Hungorn no later than December 1, 2002. Elections for each position will be held on April 25, 2003._

_**Student Government 2002-2003**_

_**Aether Monitors**_

_**Sophomore**__ Cyril Tolliver Morgana Isringhouse_

_**Junior**__ Lex Kennedy Constance Brewer_

_**Senior**__ Winston Collins Carnegie Pridemore_

_**Student Representatives**_

_**6th grade**__ Jenny James_

_**7th grade**__ Billy Ferguson_

_**8th grade**__ Ken Reese_

_**Freshman**__ Paul Griffith_

_**Sophomore**__ Kristi Melon_

_**Junior**__ Dana Wills_

_**Senior**__ Pierce Zimmer_

_**Student Judiciary**_

_**Defender**__ Dan Sack_

_**Prosecutor**__ Carl Fielding_

_**Judge**__ Karen Wills_

_**Student Body VP**__ Talia Hogan_

_**Student Body President**__ James Fortune_

_Any questions or concerns you have should be brought to the attention of one of the monitors or the representative for your grade. Should you find yourself in trouble, and we sincerely hope you do not, please see the student judiciary for assistance. If you have a problem that you feel the student government cannot handle, you may still feel free to contact the head of your dorm, the school counselor, the dean of students or the school dean (names of each can be found in your student handbook.)_

The girls put their schedules, contacts and handbooks in their packs just as the house elf reappeared with their breakfasts. Carolyn tried to alleviate Drew's concerns about the elves by striking up a conversation with the house elf whose name turned out to be Bill.

"Bill?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes Miss," the elf said. "My mother is your history teacher, and she refused to give Bill a proper elf name. Instead I have a human one." Bill gave a small sad look before continuing, "Bill is also not allowed to speak proper Elf. Mother says Bill must speak as humans do if he is to work with them. Bill is just lucky mother does not demand he have clothes as well." The last was said as a shiver ran through the elf.

"Wait, you don't want to be free?" Drew asked.

"Oh no Miss," Bill said. "Bill is quite happy serving his masters and the children here. Bill has everything he needs and the students here makes plenty of messes for Bill and the other elves to clean."

"If it makes you feel better Bill," Carolyn said. "We will give you tons of messes to clean up."

A wide toothy grin broke across the elf's face. "Bill would like that very much Miss. I must go. Other students are coming for breakfast. Good day Miss Carolyn, Miss Drew."

"'Bye Bill," the two girls said as the elf rushed over to greet two Ponus students coming into the dining hall.

"See, they love working for wizards," Carolyn said to Drew.

"Maybe," Drew said. "I think I'll wait until we take the history class and see what Miss Plicky says about it."

"Miss Plicky?"

"Yeah," Drew said. "According to the schedule, that's the name of the elf who teaches History of Magic."

"Ah."

The two dug into their breakfasts, as the rest of the student gradually poured into the dining hall for breakfast. By 7:30, the hall was full once again and each student had their schedules for the year. In no time, everyone was heading to their first class.


	8. Ch 07: Beginning Lessons

**Chapter Seven:**

**Beginning Lessons**

"Welcome to sixth grade Charms," Ms. Pinkerton said as the late bell rang. "Every other day for the next year, you and I will have the pleasure of exploring the world of charm work. Now, can anyone tell me what a charm is?"

Looking around, Carolyn noticed that only two people had their hands up, Jessica Isringhouse, from her own dorm and a young witch with green hair wearing the tan robes of Ponus Dorm.

"Miss Kelp," Ms. Pinkerton said.

"They're spells that affect people and objects."

"Excellent," said Ms. Pinkerton. "To be more exact, charms force our will onto our targets. However, since that can be said for all spells, what makes charms different from say a curse or a hex?" When no hands rose, Ms. Pinkerton continued. "The answer is charms are more specific in their execution and results. For instance…"

With a flick of her wand, she calmly said, "Mobilius" and pointed to a stack of books that quickly scooted and toppled over.

"The movement spell is the most basic spell in charm work. If the mobilius charm is cast alone, the results can be as unpredictable as involuntary magic. Generally, a suffix is added to the spell in order to select the specific target you want moved. For instance, mobiliarbus." With another flick of her wand, she pointed at a piece of wood lying on her desk. The spell caused the wood to move to the other side of the desk. When the example was over, Ms. Pinkerton flicked her wand at a couple of stacks of thick pieces of leather, causing them to levitate and distribute themselves to the students.

"For the remainder of the class, you will try to find the proper suffix to move your piece of leather across your desks. The first one to do so will receive five extra points on today's grade. A warning, these scraps of leather are charmed not to respond to the simple mobilius charm, so try to find an appropriate suffix for your charm."

The girl with green hair raised her hand once again when Ms. Pinkerton finished her instructions.

"Yes Miss Kelp?" said the teacher.

"Miss, does the suffix have to be Latin?" the girl asked.

"I have found that for most witches and wizards, Latin works best, but if you can find another successful suffix, I will award an additional 10 points."

For the next hour and a half, the 24 students tried adding everything they could think of to the mobilius spell, with no success. Most kept referring to their textbooks trying to find the correct spell. Finally, near the end of class, everyone heard a slap as the green haired girl's strap hit the floor. Ms. Pinkerton looked up at the sound.

"Miss Kelp, either you found the correct charm, or you are well and truly frustrated," the witch said.

"I'm not sure, Miss," said the girl. "I tried the spell, but I think I hit the strap with my wand too."

"Well then," said Ms. Pinkerton, "let's find out." With a flick, she sent the strap from the floor back to her student's desk. "Aloud this time so that we all may hear."

The girl took a deep breath, and then twirled her wand before flicking it and calling "Mobilicaro!" Without her wand actually touching the strap this time, the piece of leather once again shot off her desk and into the floor.

"Very good Miss Kelp," the teacher said while the rest of the class gave her a light applause. "You receive five extra points."

"Thank you Miss," said the girl.

"We have ten minutes left in the class," Ms. Pinkerton said. "In that time, I want each of you to practice the mobilicaro charm and concentrate on controlling the direction and distance of the movement."

That is precisely what they did. For ten minutes, 24 young voices called out the charm with varying degrees of success. By the time the bell rang, only Miss Kelp, another Ponus and Drew had managed to move their pieces of leather.

"Practice this charm today and tomorrow," Ms. Pinkerton said as her students packed up their stuff. "By Wednesday I want everyone to be able to move their leather in any direction and distance." As the students filed out of the classroom, Carolyn let out a frustrated sigh.

"I can't believe it. I can levitate a cauldron, but I can't move a piece of leather," she complained to Drew.

"We'll get it figured out by Wednesday," Drew said as the Aethers separated from the Ponus group. Drew and the other sixth graders headed out of the building and headed next door to their Muggle Studies class.

The Aethers shared the Muggle Studies class with the students from Tyche Dorm. Mrs. Tow seemed to be a fun loving individual, who bore a perpetual grin on her face.

"Welcome to Muggle Studies," she began. "This is the only class where you will be performing absolutely no magic. Each day of the week we will be studying a different muggle oriented subject. Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Language Studies, Muggle History, and the Sciences are all very important to magical as well as non-magical people."

"Now," she continued. "As I am a squib, you may be under the impression that as magic users, you have a certain amount of power over me, but let me warn you, I have a magic that will make you tremble in fear."

"If you're a squib," one emerald robed boy said. "What kind of magic could you possibly hold, let alone that we would fear?"

"A good question Mr. Donovan," Mrs. Tow answered. "I have the power to make even the smartest wizard fail this course. I can call down the wrath of your parents, or I can see you expelled for using magic against what amounts to a muggle." Seeing the Tyche student gulp, Mrs. Tow gave a short laugh. "Having said that, let's get to studying math."

For the next hour, Mrs. Tow explained the need for mathematics in the magical world and quizzed each student to find where his or her aptitude stood. By the end of class, Carolyn realized that she was slightly ahead of the rest of the class in her muggle knowledge. Most of the other students, with the exception of Drew and two other muggle-borns, were hopelessly behind. As purebloods, they were home schooled as children and muggle related subjects were not held in high esteem by most of the older magical families. After Mrs. Tow dismissed the class, Carolyn and Drew headed to their dorms to start on their morning homework.

"I can't believe I still can't get that charm to work," Carolyn complained as she, Drew, and Brenda sat at their dorm table. "I mean it's like the stupid strap is laying there laughing at me."

"You're just not concentrating," Brenda said reaching for a slice of meatloaf. "Try to forget about how frustrating it is and just imagine the strap moving across the desk."

"I'd be happy if the stupid thing would flap in the wind," Carolyn said, causing Drew to snort into her glass of milk. Brenda did seem to have a point however, over the mast hour all five of her sixth grade dorm mates had been able to move their individual pieces of leather while Carolyn's piece remained stubbornly in place.

"Don't worry Carolyn," said Dana Collins from the other side of Brenda. "We'll work on it again after Defense."

"Yeah," said Brenda. "Maybe if you try just the mobilius by itself first, you can work up to it."

"Or maybe you should just get a real witch to do it for you Grace," a new voice said.

Looking up Carolyn looked into the sneering face of Malicia Spittori. Apparently the nasty little girl goes nowhere without her three friends and today was no exception.

"What do you want Malicia?" Carolyn asked trying to keep a peaceful air for her mother's sake.

"I was just passing by and heard you were having some trouble with a basic charm," replied Malicia. "If you would like, I can make myself available to you for some remedial tutoring."

"I think," said Carolyn, keeping her diplomatic tone, "That I will be fine, but if I do need help, I'll try someone who has been to a Charms class." Carolyn's polite tone nearly masked the venom in her eyes as she stared down Malicia Spittori. Unfortunately, Malicia displayed a mastery of delivering spiteful diplomacy.

"If you change your mind, let me know," She smiled at Carolyn. "Also, I can send a letter to Auntie Hannah when I write daddy tonight, to see if she has any advice. You know how many squibs and near squibs, she and daddy run across. She's bound to know a few tricks for helping you." With that, Carolyn's least favorite classmate made a move to leave before falling flat on her face.

Everyone hopped up from the table, most hoping to see the snide brat in an embarrassing moment. Carolyn however looked over at the Coeus table where she witnessed her brother putting his wand back up his sleeve. Seeing the innocent look he shot her, Carolyn looked down on Malicia and feigned concern as she asked, "Are you ok?"

After Robert, Alvah, and Visha helped her to her feet, Malicia gave Carolyn an icy glare.

"However you did that, I promise you that you're going to pay for it," she said to Carolyn through clenched teeth. Carolyn returned her glare for a few moments before breaking into a deep laugh.

"You know," she said between laughs. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you had two left feet." The pale look Malicia acquired caused Carolyn to laugh even harder. Her roommates' laughter joined hers as soon as Malicia looked down to make sure that she did not have two left feet. Watching the nasty little brat and her friends stormed off, Carolyn and her friends returned to their seats and began eating their lunch.

"Properly prepared potions, elixirs, salves, balms, and poultices can save your life or heal an injury in ways that spells and nature cannot," Mrs. Hungorn said as the bell rang for the start of class. "In addition, potions can do their work while leaving your wand free to cast spells when needed. Now on the board is a list of terms. Over the next thirty minutes, I want each of you to write a brief definition of each term. Whoever gets the most correct will earn an additional 5 points for their grade today. For each person who gets all of the terms correct, you will receive 10 points. Ready? Begin."

As Mrs. Hungorn started the quiz, eight terms appeared on the board, most of which Carolyn could easily define. Looking about the room, Carolyn was surprised to see that Malicia Spittori and her friends were shuffling through their books to find the answers. She nudged Drew and pointed it out, only to have her roommate shake her own head in disgust. Determined to beat the malicious Vishnu without cheating, Carolyn set out to define the terms to her best ability.

Carolyn knew from her mother that one made a brew by steeping or soaking ingredients in boiling water, and that a concoction was simply a mixture of ingredients. She was almost certain that elixirs were thick, sweetened potions used for medicine, and that poisons were harmful or deadly potions. Of course, this meant that antidotes were potions or ingredients that negated the harmful effects of poisons. This left three terms that Carolyn was unsure of: draught, philter, and tincture.

Although she knew she had heard the terms before, Carolyn wracked her brain trying to remember what they meant. Drew seemed to be doing some better, but Carolyn flat out refused to copy her work. She would not stoop to Malicia Spittori's level. After nearly twenty minutes of concentrating, Carolyn gave up trying to remember the definitions and let her mind wander while the rest of the class finished their work. It did not escape her notice, however, that Malicia and her friends had been finished for quite some time.

At the end of the thirty minutes, Mrs. Hungorn walked among the class picking up each student's paper and ten tapping it with her wand. When the teacher handed Carolyn's paper back, the three terms Carolyn did not define were answered in red with a note at the bottom reading, _"When in doubt, rather than sitting around staring into space, please check your textbook. Or ask your study partner."_

From the note, Carolyn realized that Mrs. Hungorn had not said she could not use her textbook. She simply assumed that Malicia was cheating. Because of her own actions, or lack thereof, Carolyn had received a 62 1/2% on her first assignment. No doubt, Malicia had gotten her 110%, as did Drew from what Carolyn saw from the corner of her eye. Although she was happy for her friend, she could not seem to muster the same joy for Malicia.

The remaining hour of the potions class was spent discussing the various ingredients and their properties for the potion the class would be concocting on Wednesday. Although Carolyn knew the properties of nettles and porcupine quills, snake fangs and horned slugs, she allowed Drew and Brenda to answer most of the questions while she worked on figuring out what potion they would be creating during next class. She had just figured out what all of the ingredients would so when mixed properly when Mrs. Hungorn asked for opinions of the potion. Shooting her hand in the air, Carolyn was relieved to see that none of Malicia's friends had figured it out yet.

"Miss Grace," Mrs. Hungorn said.

"If mixed properly, these ingredients will make a potion to remove most boils," she said proudly.

"That is correct, Miss Grace," said the potion mistress. "The boil cure potion will cure most boils except those arising from extremely advanced magic. For an extra ten points, please tell me the common mistake inexperienced potioneers make when concocting this potion and the effects of that mistake."

Carolyn remembered Kevin telling her about this very potion three years ago and she remembered laughing when he told her what had happened to one of his classmates.

"I'm not sure how common it is, but my brother told me about one of his classmates that added the porcupine quills while the cauldron was still on the fire," Carolyn said a smile growing on her face. "He told me that the potion became acidic and burned holes through the table and eventually exploded giving everyone that was hit by it a body full of boils."

"You are correct Miss Grace," said the deputy head mistress. "In fact, regardless of how many warnings I issue, it seems that every sixth grade class has at least one person make this mistake. Fortunately for your brother, his potion making became much better after that incident."

"Wait," Carolyn said. "It was Kevin who did it?"

"And if you make your potion correctly on Wednesday, you can hold it over his head forever," Mrs. Hungorn said giving a quiet chuckle. At that, the bell rang to release the class. Carolyn, Drew, and Brenda were the last to gather their supplies and depart the class. Carolyn was relieved to know that she would not have to face another class with Malicia until tomorrow's Herbology class. Right now, however, they had to go back to the building across from Vishnu Dorm for their Defensive Magic class.

Miss Dimwither was running late to class. Both the Aether and the Komodia sixth graders had been waiting in class for ten minutes before the door burst open and the harried teacher entered the room.

"I apologize for my tardiness," she said in a melodious voice. "Rest assured this is not an example that I want set, and as I will make every effort not to repeat this performance, I expect you not to as well." As she finally turned to face the students, everyone in the classroom let out an audible gasp. No one had seen Miss Dimwither at dinner the night before. In fact, she was not at breakfast or lunch today. Carolyn had no idea why the teacher skipped those meals, but she along with the rest of the class was stunned by the sheer beauty of their teacher. With long raven hair, sparkling blue eyes, and that voice of a songbird, this witch was the epitome of beauty and grace. It was therefore a shock when her next action occurred. With a flick of her wand, she scooted Colin Davis's chair right out from under him, sending him to the floor.

"Mr. Davis, you have just lost five points from today's grade," she announced in a normal voice. Carolyn shook her head and stared at her teacher. Although still quite beautiful, her appearance seemed muted from just a moment ago.

"If you should ever find yourself fighting someone of exceptional beauty," she continued. "A veela perhaps, you would need to overcome your initial admiration of their physical appearance and be ready to fight. Otherwise, you will lose."

The class seemed stunned by not only the teacher's actions but also her metamorphosis from uncontrollable beauty to simply stunning. Carolyn raised her hand as something occurred to her.

"Yes Miss Grace," the teacher said.

"Miss Dimwither, Veelas only have that kind of effect on men. Women seem to be naturally antagonized towards them."

"You are correct Miss Grace. You get Mr. Davis's five points," the teacher responded as Colin finally got to his feet to retrieve his chair. "However, there are races, spell, potions, and items that can mimic these effects for either gender. One may even find themselves on the opposing side of a battle from a loved one. In cases such as this, you must be prepared to fight for what you believe in or be defeated by those you may think you love."

"When the dark wizard, Jefferson Davis took control of the Confederate forces in 1861, he reveled in forcing family members, both magical and mundane to fight one another to the death. Of course, by this time, he had already ensconced himself into muggle politics and used his backing of dissident muggles to start what became known as the American Civil War.

"Since then, those who attempt to gain supremacy through dark magic have attempted to use loved ones or loving feelings as a weapon against those who oppose them. Can anyone tell me why?"

Drew was the only student to raise her hand for this question. When Miss Dimwither called her name, she answered, "Because people will pause before fighting someone they love or are enamored with."

"Very good Miss Epicene, five points for today," said Miss Dimwither. "Now that this warning is over, can anyone tell me what spell I used to unseat Mr. Davis?" Colin's hand shot into the air almost as soon as she finished her question. "Mr. Davis?"

"You used a version of the mobilius charm," said the boy.

"And how do you know it wasn't a summoning charm?" ask Miss Dimwither.

"Because the chair moved to the side," he answered. "If you had summoned it, it would have moved toward you."

"Very good Mr. Davis, You may have your five points back."

For the remainder of the class, Miss Dimwither explained the benefits of movement charms and simple transfigurations during a fight. The lesson focused mostly on defensive aspects of the spells, but Colin managed to earn ten more points when he pointed out that Miss Dimwither's earlier demonstration was clearly an offensive aspect. As the class neared completion, Miss Dimwither announced that on Wednesday, she would be teaching a basic disarming spell and the class would be using the movement charm and the transfiguration charm to defend against it.

Having already finished her math homework, Carolyn spent her five o'clock break practicing her movement charm, finally getting her leather strap to move an inch just before dinner. After enjoying her second dinner at school, Carolyn and Drew spent the next two hours perfecting their charms. By the time Astronomy class arrived, Drew's leather strap was standing on its edge and walking across her workstation. Carolyn's was still only sliding.

Astronomy was held on the top floor of the academics building across from the Coeus Dorm. Mrs. Stratus explained that throughout the year, they would study the various constellations, identify each star within the constellations, and learn how stellar alignment would affect their magic. That first night, each student in the Aether and Coeus class was given the opportunity to look through the school's huge telescope and _"see the wonder of the heavens."_ Carolyn was afraid that it would be a wonder if she passed this class.

Having finished her final class of the night, Carolyn passed on her last study break and headed straight for bed. Just before her eyes closed, she noticed her mom's diary on the nightstand and thought to herself, _Two whole days and no detention. I've got mom and Jake beat._

The next morning was a bit easier for Carolyn and Drew. They had managed to avoid Malicia and her friends entirely by getting up a half an hour earlier and eating breakfast with only Ms. Pinkerton in the dining hall. After eating, the duo went to the Transfiguration classroom and practiced more of their movement charm until both girls were able to have their strips waltzing and square dancing with each other. Drew had Carolyn rolling and laughing as she had her piece of leather doing what she called "The Macarena." Seeing the corners of the leather flapping and the middle wiggling, had Carolyn in stitches by the time the other students began entering the classroom. The dancing strap was still going when Mr. Juniper entered the classroom and noticed the knot of students surrounding the workstation at the rear of the classroom.

"Excellent charmwork Miss Epicene," he said, startling some of the students. "If you would come up front and help me demonstrate our first transfiguration."

Blushing furiously, Drew followed Mr. Juniper to the front of the class while the rest of the students took their seats.

"I would like to first warn everyone here," Mr. Juniper began, "that the science of Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Willowood. Changing what is to what may be can be beneficial when done properly, but have catastrophic effects when botched." Noting that he had the class's full attention, he continued. "Normally, I would start my sixth grade classes on transfiguring the material component of an object. Today, however, I wish to change things around. Miss Epicene here," he gestured to Drew, "has demonstrated an excellent gift for movement charms.

"In only her second day at school, she has managed to not only get her piece of leather to move from one place to another, she has devised a complicated process for making it dance. Most sixth graders do not reach this level of competency with this particular charm until the end of the year, some not even then. I would like therefore for Miss Epicene to demonstrate her dancing strap for you. But first," he said pulling out his wand and pointing it at the strap. "Engorgio."

Drew's small leather strap swelled to three times its size, giving everyone a clear view of it as Drew had it perform the complex movements of a square dance. After a couple of minutes, and a round of applause for Drew, Mr. Juniper reduced the strap to its natural size.

"Very good Miss Epicene," he said as she took her seat next to Carolyn. "Now, for five points, can anyone tell me what the spell is that I used on her strap?" Colin Davis and Drew were the only two to raise their hands. "Mr. Davis."

"It's the engorgement charm?" Colin asked.

"Is that a question?"

"No sir. I believe it's the engorgement charm."

"Quite right Mr. Davis, please take five points," Mr. Juniper said. "Now the engorgement charm is a very basic spell that, when cast properly, can increase the size of its target. Properly cast, the target will retain its density and other physical properties in proportion to its new size. What I want from each of you is to practice on your straps that Ms. Pinkerton gave you yesterday. When you successfully cast the spell, your strap will be larger in all directions, while still maintaining its malleability."

While Mr. Juniper turned to write something on the chalkboard, Carolyn noticed that nearly everyone in the classroom had a panicked look on their face.

"Now," Mr. Juniper said turning back around. "Take your straps and wands out. I want you to practice first. The wand movements are…" Looking out at his class, he saw that only Carolyn and Drew had their straps out. "Did no one bring their straps to class today?"

By way of an answer, the entire class began to grumble.

"Very well, those who do not have their straps please take out your transfiguration texts," he said with a glint in his eye. "You will engorge your textbooks for this class. If you are unable to return them to their natural size, I will reduce them for you after lunch. Miss Epicene, Miss Grace, please take five points each for coming to class prepared."

"Now, the wand movement is simple," Mr. Juniper continued giving a demonstration of the wand movements and enunciation of the spell. Feeling a bit of sympathy for his students, he also mentioned that the reverse movements and incantation of reducio would counter the engorgement charm.

Carolyn surprised herself by getting both spells to work in just under a half an hour, just slightly slower than Drew and Brenda. Her elation at her success was replaced with laughter as Colin finally cast a successful Engorgio on his textbook. Unfortunately, he did the job too well and the book swelled to six feet long, knocking the entire front row of students across their workstations and pushing his row back into the laps of the students behind them. Fortunately, this put everyone out of the way when a moment later the weight of the book caused the workstation to collapse. When the dust and noise settled, Mr. Juniper received a deadly glare from Colin by laughing outright at his student's mishap.

"Very good Mr. Davis, now the counterspell," said the teacher between giggles.

Colin's embarrassment seemed to have crushed his confidence as effectively as his book crushed his table. By the end of the class, he still had not been able to reduce his book.

"Alright class," Mr. Juniper said when the bell rang. "Please, take your books and head to your next class. I will see most of you at lunch."

Colin looked near tears as he contemplated dragging the huge book across campus. Carolyn felt sorry for him and walked up to him.

"Give your wand a half twist counter clockwise and cast the reducio" she said. "Forget about the embarrassment and concentrate on the book."

Giving her a nod, Colin looked at the book with a focused determination and performed the correct wand movement. "Reducio!" he shouted at the book. It worked. Colin's book began to shrink until it became its regular size. It kept shrinking however, and didn't stop until it disappeared completely.

"Oh crap," he said looking at the spot where his book had been. "Oh crap."

"Uhm," Carolyn said, taking a step back. "Wow. Sorry about that." As Carolyn began back-pedaling, Mr. Juniper walked up to them nearly in tears from laughing.

"Mr. Davis," he said. "As angry and frustrated as you are right now, believe me, by the end of the year, you are going to be laughing about this. Please take twenty points for giving me such a great memory."

Colin looked at his teacher in shock. Wasn't there a rule about mocking your students and rewarding them for it? Shocked as he was however, he was flat out dumbstruck when Mr. Juniper flicked his wand and the table reassembled itself, complete with Colin's regular sized book atop of it.

After their Muggle Studies class, where they turned in their math assignment and received their reading list for the year, the sixth graders enjoyed a nice break before taking their lunch. Carolyn was surprised to note that Malicia was absent from her friends during lunch, but shrugged it off as it meant that she wouldn't be there to get on her nerves.

Carolyn expected to see Malicia in Herbology class after lunch, but once again, the girl was absent. Smiling at her good fortune, she was able to pay attention to Ms. Haas as she explained a group of mundane plants that were used for magical purposes. Ms. Haas had just been explaining the various plants that they would be studying throughout the year.

"We will start of course with some of the mundane plants that witches and wizards can use for various purposes," Ms. Haas said. "Now, I understand from Mrs. Hungorn that you will be making your first potion this week. One of the ingredients for this potion will be nettles. Miss Collins, can you tell me what magical properties nettles have?"

Drew and Carolyn looked to their work partner waiting for her to give the obvious answer, only to be shock when Dana said, "I don't know ma'am."

Dana paled as the Vishnu students erupted into laughter, but both Drew and Carolyn shot them glares that, had they been paying attention, would have stopped them in mid-laugh.

"Miss Collins," Ms. Haas said, stopping the laughter. "Can you tell me the difference between magical plants and mundane?"

"Mundane plants don't have magical properties?" the embarrassed girl answered.

"Exactly," said Ms. Haas. "Therefore none of our mundane plants will have any magical properties. Now, if you'll turn to page seven in your textbooks…"

Ms. Haas went on with the class, explaining why plants such as nettles, dandelions, the various ivies, and berries were so important to the magical community even without magical properties of their own. Carolyn fully enjoyed the class and was surprised to find that Ms. Haas was not as vile as The Hags who tormented her mother.

Carolyn was practically bouncing into the History of Magic class that Aether sixth grade shared with Komodia. Her joy was brought down quickly at seeing the determined glint in her best friend's eye.

"What's wrong," she asked Drew.

"I'm just waiting for class to start," answered her friend. "According to the book, we're going to learn about the house elf pact first. I want to know what Ms. Plicky says about it. I doubt it's as flowery as the wizards claim."

As if on cue, the door behind the teacher's desk opened and a small, well-dressed house elf stepped into the room.

"I am Plicky," said the elf. "I am teaching you the history of magic so you children will know how we got where we are."

The class started out with everyone paying attention to the diminutive elf, but from the looks on some of their faces, it was clear that this was going to be a very boring class.

"Please be turning to page fifteen," said Plicky. "First we're going to be learning about the first contract wizards have with magical creatures."

Drew and Carolyn sat up straight to hear what the house elf had to say.

"Before humans even knew magic," the elf began. "Elves lived separate from humans. Elves were very different then. We were so beautiful. We lived in areas where we learned magic. We kept peace with nature and kept our world clean. When humans first learned to control magic, they found Elves. Elves and humans learned from each other and lived peaceful, until bad humans tries to conquer all other races with magic.

"Elves nearly destroyed humans in this magic war. But when bad wizards go away, Elves took pity on wizards who were still here. War made Elves turn ugly. We did ugly things and because we did ugly things, we started to look ugly too. Elves were afraid of bad magic making us more ugly or worse. But we knew that we'd never look beautiful again, so we swear to never act ugly again. Elves go to humans and promise not to be ugly with them again. Instead, we helped humans and made a bond to serve them forever. After a time, Elves started loving the work and loving to protect our masters. Elves got peace again with ourselves by finding the joy of taking care of our humans. For three thousand years, elves serve humans so we wouldn't need to hurt them. We're dedicated to doing what humans ask us, and punish ourselves for misbehaving.

"We've lived a long time with magic stronger than humans so we can protect and serve our masters and not hurt them no more. When elves are being bad, Masters gives clothes and sets us free. For most this is a bad thing because Elf who is freed is been doing bad things against masters wishes. Some Elves asks to be freed if they with bad wizards, or if they think they can do more better for wizards without a master. Plicky asks for clothes so she can teach young wizards about what happened before so they not mess up again."

When the Elf had finished her tale, Drew raised her hand. Plicky noticed it and nodded, "Yes Miss?"

"Ms. Plicky," Drew began.

"Just Plicky Miss."

"Plicky," Drew tried again. "If Elf magic is more powerful than human magic, why become slaves to humans? Why not just make humans slaves?"

"Elves lived thousands of years in peace Miss," Plicky replied. "All Elves want is peace. We know our magic and we protect nature, but wizards need help and protections too. It is better to protect wizards as servants than as lords. Humans are prideful, and as slaves, they would keep trying to be free. Elves are happy to work for humans so we're not fighting any more. Besides Humans are like children for us Elves to care for and clean up after."

"So why do you punish yourselves when you misbehave?" Drew continued.

"To save the wizards' time from having to punish us. Also, if we punish ourselves, our masters won't need to give us clothes. For most Elves, having no master is worst punishment of all. It means we have broken our promise to look after our humans and protect them."

"So, you're actually looking over us and protecting us by teaching us?" Carolyn's other roommate, Brenda Adams asked.

"Yes," said Plicky. "And some of you needs more protecting than others."

This brought a slight giggle from some of the class, and Drew seemed somewhat mollified. She still didn't like the idea of slavery, but knowing why the Elves agreed to the situation made it easier for her to accept the situation. Besides, the last two days around the school's Elves had taught Drew that the best way to get on the bad side of a house elf was to suggest freedom.

For Drew, and ultimately Carolyn as well, the rest of the History class went completely downhill. As Plicky gave an overview of this year's topics, such as the various wars and events of the old world, the eyes of most of the class became glazed over. The remainder of the day continued with no major surprises. Malicia was still absent at dinnertime, but by this time, Carolyn noticed that her three friends kept shooting murderous looks toward her.

Carolyn didn't let this bother her until halfway through their Zoology class. Mrs. Nightingale had just given each student a little ball of fur in a little cage, when a ghostly puppy came running up to Ms. Haas.

"Miss Grace, Miss Epicene," the teacher called as the puppy disappeared. "Please pack up your things and go see Mr. Jarrel in the Administration Building."


	9. Ch 08: Dream Catcher

**Chapter Eight:**

**Dream Catcher**

Carolyn and Drew sat on the bench outside Dean Jarrel's office. His secretary, Miss Moore, informed them that the Dean was in the middle of a floo conversation and he would be with them in a moment. The girls were apprehensive about the summons, but not concerned over anything they could have done. As far as they knew, they hadn't broken any rules. Drew was quietly suggesting possible reasons for their being here, ranging from congratulations for superior work these first two days to something horrible happening to one family member or another. Before her next suggestion could form however, the door to the Dean's office opened.

"Miss Epicene, Miss Grace, and Miss Moore, please come in," said the Dean as he stepped aside to allow them to enter. Once the two students and his assistant had taken seats, Dean Jarrel cleared his throat and began.

"Ladies," he said. "It has come to my attention that there have been some difficulties between the two of you and Miss Spittori. Is that correct?" The two girls were surprised that the Dean was already aware of this.

"Well sir," Carolyn began. "She has made a few remarks that I've not liked, but we've remained civil towards her. We didn't want to cause any trouble our first week here."

"That's very admirable," said the Dean, "but using a tripping jinx on her in the dining hall is hardly remaining civil now is it?"

"We didn't trip her yesterday," said Drew. "She was at our table being all snide and when she started to walk away, she fell on her big nose."

"Miss Epicene, there is no reason to disparage Miss Spittori's appearance," The Dean stated. "Now, Miss Grace did you or did you not threaten to disfigure Miss Spittori by giving her 'two left feet?'"

"No," Carolyn said outraged by the accusation. "I made a smart comment about her having two left feet, but that was after she fell. It's an old saying referring to someone who's clumsy."

"I am aware of the saying Miss Grace," the Dean said. "Might I ask where the two of you were this morning at six o'clock?"

Carolyn thought quickly, and then remembered that she and Drew had gone to breakfast early.

"We were at breakfast sir," Carolyn said. "We wanted to avoid another scene with Malicia and her group so we got up a half hour earlier so we could be done with breakfast before they got to the Dining Hall. We left at about a quarter after and went to Mr. Juniper's classroom to practice our Charms homework before class."

"I see," said Dean Jarrel. "If I am not much mistaken, Miss Pinkerton has Breakfast duty in the Dining Hall this week."

"That's correct Dean, would you like for me to verify?" asked Miss Moore.

"Please," Dean Jarrel said. "And check with Julius as well."

Miss Moore raised her wand and two ghostly puppies leapt from its end. Carolyn was surprised, as she had never heard of anyone producing a patronus silently, let alone two patronuses at once.

"While we wait," Dean Jarrel continued, "I would like for the two of you to relinquish your wands."

This request completely shocked Carolyn. Once a witch or wizard started school, they never relinquished their wands willingly. The very concept was akin to asking someone to sever his or her own arm. Nonetheless, Drew held out her wand readily while Carolyn hesitated.

"Miss Grace, do you have something to hide?" asked Dean Jarrel.

"No sir," she answered. "It's just that I-"

"I assure you Miss Grace," the Dean interrupted, "that I only wish to check the spells you have cast with your wand. No harm will come to it."

Somewhat relieved, but still nervous about the request, Carolyn finally handed her wand to the Dean.

"What I am about to do," the Dean said. "Is view the last few spells your wand has cast. If it is proven that you cursed Miss Spittori this morning, I am afraid you will face detention as well as restricted wand usage for a month." When the two girls did not react, Dean Jarrel placed the tip of his wand to the tip of Carolyn's before muttering, "Priori Incantato."

Carolyn watched as images of her leather strap grew, shrunk, and moved around. She watched, as slight sparks showed what she assumed was misfired spells until finally she watched a cauldron float up for a moment and then zoom forward. As the display ended, Carolyn looked to Mr. Jarrel to get his verdict.

"Miss Grace, it seems that you are innocent of the attack on Miss Spittori," the Dean said as he took up Drew's wand. "Priori Incantato."

As Drew's recent spells poured out of her wand, Carolyn saw that her friend had been casting spells that they weren't scheduled to learn for weeks yet. She saw Drew's strap dance, move, fly, grow, shrink, and change into a drinking glass. Through all of this, neither Carolyn nor Dean Jarrel saw a spell that would trip anyone. When the last image vanished, Dean Jarrel handed both girls their wands.

"Have either of you been to any joke shops lately?" Dean Jarrel asked.

"No sir," the girls answered in unison.

"Have any of your friends been to a joke shop for you?"

"No sir."

"Have you borrowed any potions, juices, or other drinks from someone and given them to Miss Spittori?"

"No sir."

Staring intently at the two girls, Dean Jarrel finally gave a frustrated sigh.

"Ladies, for some reason," he began, "Miss Spittori was attacked with a spell or potion that caused some damage to her body." The two girls gasped at this as the Dean continued. "For some inexplicable reason, Miss Spittori and her friends believe that the two of you are behind it."

"But that's-"

"Miss Grace!" Dean Jarrel interrupted. "I see no evidence that her claims are valid. Neither of your wands have cast jinxes or curses that would cause Miss Spittori's condition. And I believe that neither of you could brew a potion that would cause it, nor have you come in contact with a potion that would cause it." The duo let out a collective sigh.

"If I find that I am incorrect in my assessment," the Dean continued. "I assure you that the remainder of your year here will be very unpleasant. I will not have my students causing harm to one another. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," the girls answered.

As Dean Jarrel returned to his seat, two ghostly creatures appeared in the room, both approaching Miss Moore and speaking to her.

"Dean Jarrel," she said. "Both Mr. Juniper and Miss Pinkerton verify the girls claims of their whereabouts this morning."

"Very well," the Dean said. "Miss Grace, Miss Epicene, I cannot force you to get along with Miss Spittori, but I want to reiterate that you are not to become involved in any confrontations with each other, magical or physical."

"Sir," said Drew, "if I may."

"Yes Miss Epicene."

"I can promise you that even with Malicia running her mouth like she has, neither one of us has ever said or done anything to her to get even. We've done everything we can to ignore her."

"Miss Epicene," Dean Jarrel said. "As admirable as your efforts to stay out of confrontations are, the goal of Willowood is to foster cooperation with one another. Even if we have to work with those, we would rather stay away from. Rather than avoid Miss Spittori, I would like to see the two of you make an effort to assure her that the two of you were not responsible for her condition and find some way to work together in the classes which you share."

"Yes sir," the girls responded, both knowing that they were not going to have their way in this.

"You may return to class," the Dean said.

Carolyn and Drew lay on their beds, reading the section on puffskeins in their Zoology textbooks. After returning to their Herbology class, Brenda had informed the duo of what they had missed and helped them to write their essays on mundane plants used for magical purposes. Their Zoology class after dinner introduced the sixth graders to puffskeins, with Mrs. Nightingale giving each of the Aether and Coeus students their own puffskein to care for. Aside from daily assignments, each student who had a happy and healthy puffskein at the end of the year would receive an extra one hundred points for the class. According to the text, as long as the puffskeins were not overfed or harmed, the assignment would be quite easy.

After warning Alcina against trying to eat the puffskeins, and letting her out to hunt, the girls took the small balls of fur and placed them in small cages that Mrs. Nightingale provided for them. Carolyn finally settled down to her desk to finish her Reading homework. The first book on this year's reading list was the Douglas Evans story _Apple Island, or The Truth About Teachers_. The sixth graders were to read the books and write an essay on each as well as discuss the books throughout the year. As Carolyn wrote her summary for the story, she wondered to herself what the world would be like if teachers did come from a particular island. What would it be like if they never left it? Laughing to herself, she continued writing until she had filled two sheets of parchment describing the events of the book and giving an opinion on some of the key features of the story. Placing her homework in her Storm Bag, Carolyn nestled onto her bed with her mother's diary.

"Malicia wasn't at dinner tonight either," Drew commented as Carolyn opened the diary. "What do you think happened to her that she's been in the medical ward all day?"

"Don't know," Carolyn answered. "Whatever happened could have been done with a spell or a potion. Apparently one sold at a joke shop."

"Well that doesn't really narrow it down. I was reading some of the adverts in the paper, and according to the one for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, they have potions for everything from growing your toenails extra fast to causing your skin to become invisible."

"They have a potion for making you invisible?" Carolyn asked.

"No, according to the ad, it just makes your skin invisible. You walk around looking like a fleshless zombie."

"Ew."

"Yeah," Drew agreed. "Maybe they sell something that causes whatever happened to Malicia."

"Maybe," said Carolyn, "but we don't know what happened to her. We'll find out tomorrow and offer to help her figure out who did it."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Drew. "You know she's probably going to be in a nasty mood."

"Maybe, but if we don't try, she's just going to keep thinking we had something to do with it."

"I guess. But if she makes another comment about me being a charity case, I'm not going to be responsible for what I do."

"Easy killer," Carolyn laughed as she tucked in to read.

_September 21, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_What does it take to get rid of this guy? I have tried everything I can think of to get Grace expelled from school. Everything I do the school sees as a prank and ends up laughing about it. What's worse is Grace ends up getting credit for it. It's just not fair._

_I got caught last night by an eleventh grade monitor while I was trying to coat the Aether dorm in slug slime. After scaring the crap out of me, he ended up helping me coat the entire dorm, including the beds. We ended up sitting and talking for a while. I can't wait to write to Jake and tell him about Rolf. He's so dreamy. We're going to meet tomorrow night to transfigure the Coeus dorm walls into glass. He said he's going to have to enlist someone else to help. The charm is simple, but the size of the project is a bit much for the two of us. It's too bad we need help._

_Hannah Mercer_

_(Sixth Grade)_

_Ew,_ thought Carolyn. _Mom had a crush on Mr. Spittori. I guess it explains why they work so well together, but ew_. Carolyn turned the page to begin the next entry.

Before Potions class started on Wednesday, Carolyn and Drew approached Malicia and her friends in an attempt to make peace. But before the girls could get a word out, Mrs. Hungorn looked up from her desk to announce the start of class. The duo took their seats hoping to get another chance before class ended. Unfortunately, Malicia's group left the classroom as soon as the final bell rang and they had to rush to their Defense class themselves. Fortunately, as they were leaving that class, they spotted Malicia going alone into the academics building across from Coeus Dorm. Assuming the girl was heading for the library, they followed hoping to catch up to her.

Carolyn and Drew stepped into the library and spotted Malicia sitting alone at a table by the back wall, dividing her attention between a newspaper and a thick book. As they approached, Carolyn cleared her throat to announce their arrival.

"What do you want," Malicia asked when she looked up. "Come to make my hair fall out again?"

"No Malicia," Carolyn said as she took a seat. "I swear we didn't do anything to you. We wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Don't give me that," Malicia hissed. "Robert said he saw your squib friend with her wand out when we were going in to breakfast yesterday. Thought you'd hex me and run out of the Dining Hall without getting caught didn't you?"

"No I swear we didn't do it."

"Tell me how you convinced the Dean you didn't do it."

"He checked our wands, and Ms. Pinkerton and Mr. Juniper verified where we were," Carolyn said. "I swear to you Malicia, we didn't have anything to do with this, but if you'll let us, we'll help you find out who did."

"What, you want to 'help' me so you will have an excuse to be close by when you decide to curse me again?" Malicia nearly shouted causing the librarian to shush them. "I spent the whole day in the medical ward while Miss Shayde grew my hair back. If the two of you come near me again, I won't take it to Mr. Jarrel, I'll have Daddy call the school board, and have you expelled."

"We just-"

"And don't expect your mother to come to your rescue. She told us how she was bullied in school," Malicia whispered. "You should know how much she hates bullies."

With that, Malicia grabbed her newspaper and stormed out of the library without even glancing back. Carolyn sat in her chair stunned. Malicia knew about her mother's time in school. She knew about her problems with her dad. Why would her mother share that knowledge with her partner's daughter but not her own?

"Check this out," Drew said, pulling Carolyn out of her thoughts. "Trust fund was looking up some magical artifacts."

"Like what?" Carolyn asked.

"Not sure," Drew answered. "There's three entries on this page, Damocles Sword, Deadly Collective, and Dream Catcher."

"Ladies," the librarian interrupted. "I'm sorry about Miss Spittori's reaction. I didn't mean to overhear, but you were pretty loud. Give her some time, she'll probably come around."

"We'll see," Carolyn said in a defeated tone.

"Miss Someverm," Drew said. "What was Malicia looking up?"

"Well let's see," the librarian said, looking at the book. "Obviously she was looking up dream catchers. The other two are dark objects."

"What do dream catchers do?" Carolyn asked.

"True dream catchers," Miss Someverm began, "capture harmful magic in the air around a sleeping child. It keeps them from having bad dreams from whatever magic is in the air."

"I wonder what kind of dreams Malicia is trying to get away from." Drew said more to herself, than the others.

"I'm sure that whatever they are, Miss Spittori would consider them private, Miss Epicene," the librarian said as she gathered up the book and headed off to put it away. As they started out of the library, Drew noticed a stack of today's Wizard Times near the door.

"Miss Someverm, can we take a copy of the Times," she called out to the librarian.

"Yes dear," the librarian answered as she came from between two stacks of shelves. "I get several dozen copies so teachers and students can have one whenever they wish. If you like, you can pick one up in the mornings after six."

"Thank you," said Drew.

"It's my pleasure dear. I wish more students were concerned with current events. They walk out of this school thinking they know everything, but have no idea what is going on in the world today."

Whether the librarian was working up on a rant or not, the girls would ever know as they quietly left the library in the middle of her speech.

"Hey, Car," Drew said as the duo exited the building. "Your mom's on the front page here."

"What?" asked Carolyn "Why?"

"Look."

As Carolyn took the paper, she saw a moving photo of her mother and Rolf Spittori flanking another witch that looked vaguely familiar to Carolyn. The Caption below read, "Aurors Rolf Spittori and Hannah Grace, taking Auror Cosgrove in for questioning." Carolyn realized why the witch looked familiar. Her mother had worked with her before. Carolyn stopped to read the attached article.

_**Auror Questioned in Deaths of Goblin and House Elf.**_

_- Rowan Romalotti_

_Early yesterday evening, aurors were called to the home of one of their own. Junior auror, Candace Cosgrove claims to have arrived home at six o'clock pm last evening to find the body of her family's long time house elf, Hoba, dead in her living room._

_The regular auror corps were pulled off of the investigation as it involved a member of their own unit. However, the department of Magical Law Enforcement has asked that senior aurors investigate this mystery fully._

"_We do not yet know whether Miss Cosgrove is involved. We must however treat her as we would any criminal suspect," said Lead Auror Rolf Spittori._

_As we all know, Mr. Spittori and his long-time partner Hannah Grace have worked as security forces for each of the last three Secretaries of Magic._

_When asked if the death of the house elf was related to the death of the goblin Garforn, who was coincidentally found in Miss Cosgrove's Gringott's vault, Mrs. Grace responded with, "We will investigate every facet of the two cases. If they are linked, we will determine who was responsible and bring them to justice."_

_At press time, investigators could not readily determine the cause of death, only to say that there was no evidence of physical trauma, nor were there indications of unforgivable curses being used._

_The Wizarding Times remains dedicated to stay with this story and keep you informed every step of the way until justice is served._

Carolyn was very proud of her mother for being involved with such a big case. She pointed out to Drew that her mother was the second lead in the investigation.

"I'd bet anything she's guilty too," Carolyn was saying as they entered their dorm. "I mean look at how she keeps looking at mom like she hates her."

It was true too. In spite of the fact she wasn't technically under arrest, every few moments, while Mr. Spittori was placing his watch in a pocket, the witch in the middle would glare at Hannah Grace. Carolyn gave the paper back to Drew and the two continued to their dorm to finish their homework. They would have to figure out some other way to make peace with Malicia, or else find some way to avoid her for the next seven years.

The remainder of the week passed uneventfully. Malicia still refused to accept that Carolyn and Drew had nothing to do with her misfortunes, but at least she kept her distance. Carolyn spent Thursday and Friday's breaks in the library learning to create a dream catcher, with Miss Someverm providing the enchantments. When Carolyn offered it to her at the start of Transfiguration on Saturday, Malicia screamed in a panic. Mr. Juniper rushed over to the workstation to try to calm the situation down.

"Ladies," he hissed. "What is this all about?"

"She's trying to give me a cursed object," Malicia wailed looking toward Carolyn in terror.

"It is not-"

"Miss Grace," Mr. Juniper interrupted. "Where did you get that?"

"I made it for her."

"See, she admitted it," Malicia cried. "I want her expelled for this!"

"I do not have time for this," said Mr. Juniper. "Mr. Tierney, Miss Epicene, I want the two of you to escort these two to Dean Jarrel."

"Yes sir," said Robert.

"And if the dream catcher is discarded," Mr. Juniper continued. "Or if any of you get into a fight on the way, I'll see all four of you out of here. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," the four replied.

As the four students made their way to the administration building, Malicia and Robert carried on a whispered conversation. Finally, as they approached the building, Malicia looked to Carolyn and asked, "What is it about you that you can't accept someone's friendship?"

"What are you talking about?" Carolyn asked.

"Since Sunday, I have tried to be your friend for our parents' sake and you have been nasty to me the whole time," Malicia ranted as her black hair whipped about. "You have been rude to me, you have embarrassed me, and you have caused me to lose MY HAIR!" Malicia took a moment to catch her breath before seething, "And now you want to give me a cursed object. What have I ever done to you?"

"Malicia," retorted near tears. "I may have been a little hostile at first, but I have never done anything else to you. And this is NOT a cursed item. I saw you researching dream catchers in the library and Miss-"

"LADIES!" Miss Moore called out, interrupting Carolyn's response. "What can I do for you four?"

Drew stepped forward calmly and said, "Mr. Juniper sent us to Mr. Jarrel. There was a misunderstanding in Transfiguration class."

"It was not a misunder-"

"I'LL tell Mr. Jarrel that you're here," Miss Moore said, stopping Malicia in midsentence. "The four of you take a seat until he calls you."

They had no sooner sat on the benches until Mr. Jarrel's office door opened.

"Miss Moore, Miss Spittori, Mr. Tierney," he said calling his assistant and the two Vishnu students into his office.

"This is going to be a problem," Drew said once the Dean closed his door. Within five minutes, the door opened once again.

"Get in here," he called out to Carolyn and Drew. "Now."

The duo walked into the office full of trepidation, not daring to sit until Mr. Jarrel told them to do so.

"Put the object on the desk," he said with no preamble.

Rising to place the dream catcher on the desk, Carolyn started to explain what was going on.

"Miss Grace," the Dean stopped her, "did I not warn you and Miss Epicene that you were to try to get along with Miss Spittori and her friends earlier this week?"

"Yes sir, but-"

"Then perhaps you can tell me why you got into an argument with her the very next day in the library."

"Sir, I was just trying to-"

"Furthermore," the Dean continued, ignoring Carolyn's protests. "Miss Spittori tells me that you are trying to give her a cursed object. I want an explanation now."

"Sir," Drew began. "When we left your office Tuesday, we were worried about Malicia. We had nothing to do with what happened to her, but we wanted to help. Carolyn thought we should talk to her on Wednesday and try to help her figure out who had done those things to her, but when we talked to her in the library, she accused us of all those things. Miss Someverm heard the whole thing. All we wanted to do was make peace."

"Then please explain this," Mr. Jarrel said, indicating the dream catcher.

"When Malicia left the library," Carolyn said. "She left the book that she was reading. We noticed that she was looking up dream catchers, so Thursday, I decided to look them up and try to get her one. I found out that I could make one, if I could get someone to put the enchantments on them. I was going to have Kevin do it, or Professor Pinkerton, but Miss Someverm offered to place the enchantments instead."

"So the only one to place any spells on this is Miss Someverm?" the Dean asked.

"Yes sir," Carolyn answered.

"Pip!" Dean Jarrel called. With a loud crack, a house elf appeared in the Dean's office.

"Dean Jarrel called Pip sir?"

"Yes," said the Dean. "Please go to Miss Someverm, tell her I need her in my office, and keep an eye on things in the library while she is here."

"Yes Mr. Dean Jarrel," said the house elf as he disappeared from the office with another loud crack.

"In the mean time," said the Dean grabbing a pinch of green powder from his desk and turning to the fireplace. "Auror's Office," he said as he threw the powder into the fire and watched it turn green.

"Auror's Office," a voice from the fire came as a green tinted head appeared in the fire. "This is Auror Malloy, how can I help you?"

"This is Dean Jarrel from Willowood," the Dean said. "I have a suspected cursed item of unknown characteristics. I need an investigator."

"Please hold Dean," said the voice. "I will speak with one of our investigators." After a couple of moments, the head reappeared into the fire. "Dean Jarrel, please make certain the area in front of the floo is clear. Aurors Spittori and Grace will be arriving in a moment."

"Excellent," said the Dean, turning back to his students and secretary.

_This should be interesting_, thought Carolyn.

"Not a word from any of you until I have the aurors examine this object," Dean Jarrel told his students.

In no time, Rolf Spittori stepped through the flames and into the Dean's office, followed closely by Hannah Grace. Both, Carolyn was miffed to notice, looked positively spotless from the trip through the floo. Both aurors spared a brief glance at the assembled students before turning to Dean Jarrel.

"Dean Jarrel," Mr. Spittori began as he removed his cloak. "Malloy tells us you may have a cursed item on your hands."

"I seriously doubt it Rolf," said the Dean. "However the accusation has been made, and according to school policy, it must be verified or denied by an auror before I can move further."

"Quite right," said Mr. Spittori. "Where is the object in question?"

Dean Jarrel pointed to Carolyn's dream catcher still sitting on his desk. Carolyn looked up at her mother who was studiously ignoring everyone in the room.

"Let's see," Mr. Spittori was saying as he waved his wand over the dream catcher. The object glowed faintly blue for a moment and then lay inert. "Well," said Mr. Spittori. "Someone has made quite a dream catcher here. Nevertheless, I daresay that the only person in danger is whomever is trying to send dark magic to the person it was intended for. Who made it?"

"Perhaps you and Mrs. Grace should have a seat for a moment," Dean Jarrel said. Once the parents had sat next to their children Dean Jarrel continued. "For this past week, your children have been at odds with one another. There have been a couple of attacks on your daughter Rolf that she was certain originated from Miss Grace." Hannah gasped at this news and shot a look at Carolyn that would make any dark wizard wither.

"I have been able to confirm that Carolyn is innocent of these attacks, at least directly. However, Malicia seems to be convinced that Carolyn is targeting her for some reason. Now, I have asked that these girls try to get along. After all, they have seven years before they will be out of each other's hair. This morning, Malicia assumed that the dream catcher was cursed and Carolyn was intent on doing her serious harm." Dean Jarrel paused to take a breath before continuing. "I have yet to allow Carolyn explain herself, so with your permission, I will do so now."

Carolyn spent the next twenty minutes explaining her version of the events between her and Malicia over the past week, up to and including making the dream catcher and the problems that followed it. While she was telling her story, Miss Someverm slipped into the Dean's office and waited patiently. Now that Carolyn was finished, she stepped forward.

"I can verify that Carolyn had good intentions when making the dream catcher," the librarian said. "When she and Miss Epicene came into the library Thursday, to offer their help in finding out who was behind the attacks on her, they noticed that Miss Spittori was researching dream catchers. Carolyn came to me later that day and yesterday to learn how to make one for her. Once she weaved it, I placed the enchantments on it."

"Thank you Miss Someverm," Dean Jarrel said dismissing her. "Now," he continued after the librarian exited. "I do not know the source of the friction between these two girls, but I do know that something about their initial encounters has gotten Miss Spittori worried about Miss Grace. I also know that the attacks on Miss Spittori are magic more advanced than an eleven year old with less than a week's training could perpetrate.

"Mrs. Grace, I am willing to assume for the moment that neither Carolyn nor Drew are involved in the attacks. However, given the behavior of the attacker and the stress he or she is causing the school particularly Malicia, I will promise that when I find out who is behind it, they will be expelled with letters going out to every school in the country recommending that they not accept them. Furthermore, if I find that I am wrong, and Carolyn is involved, she will receive the same punishment. Now if you will excuse me, I have some things to take care of. I will leave you to discuss things with your children. Miss Epicene, Mr. Tierney, you may return to class."

When Dean Jarrel, Miss Moore, and their classmates had left, Carolyn looked over to Malicia who was having a whispered conversation with her father.

"Carolyn," Mrs. Grace said grabbing her daughter's attention. "I want your word right now that you are not behind this."

"Mom, I promise I had nothing to do with it. Honestly, other than a couple of snotty remarks she made last Sunday, I have nothing against Malicia."

Looking her daughter in the eye, Hannah finally relented. "I believe you. I want you to stay out of trouble. If you get detention, I promise, you will serve twice the amount of time at home grounded when school is out. If I find out that you have lied to me and you are behind this, you won't have to worry about being banned from every school in the country, because your next school will be in Bermuda."

Carolyn gulped. She knew her mother was tough, but she had never been this afraid of her mother in her life. She cast a glance over to Malicia and noticed that her conversation with her father was over.

"Malicia," she said. "I swear I honestly don't have any problems with you. I made you the dream catcher to help you. All I want is to get along, or at the very least not fight any more."

Malicia gave Carolyn a shrewd look before nodding an agreement. Carolyn gave her mother a hug and promised to write to her next week to keep her informed on how she was doing. As Carolyn watched Malicia do the same with her father, she thought to herself that she and Malicia really weren't that different after all. As her mother passed Malicia, the other girl embraced Hannah as well.

"I'm sorry for the problems Auntie Hannah," she said sweetly. "I'll work on keeping the peace, and I'll keep an eye on her for ya."

Then again, Carolyn thought. Maybe we're more different than I originally thought. As the two adults stepped toward the fireplace, Malicia stopped them.

"Daddy," she said. "You forgot your cloak."

Malicia grabbed her father's cloak and handed it to him. As he took it however, Carolyn noticed that Mr. Spittori's pocket watch was still in Malicia's hand, which she quickly put in her own pocket. As it was no concern to her that the little brat had stolen from her own father, Carolyn opted not to cause more problems today, and made to leave before the adults could activate the floo.

Once she was outside the office, Miss Moore informed her that she was to return to her class and that Malicia would be sent to her dorm to avoid any more problems for the day. While going directly to class, Carolyn still took her time returning to class in order to give herself some time to cool off. She arrived back at the Transfiguration classroom just in time to hear the bell, which signaled the end of class. Making sure that Drew and Brenda had the homework assignments and were willing to help her catch up what she had missed, the trio headed out to the sports fields for Drew and Brenda's flying lessons. Since Carolyn was already a capable flyer, she opted to use the time for studying, but still went with her friends while they learned to fly.

Carolyn found that reading her transfiguration textbook while her friends were on broomsticks was more difficult than she first assumed. The urge to jump from the ground and soar with Drew and Brenda was a strong one, but she promised herself to control when she used her ring's power. To take her mind off the situation, she dug her mother's diary from her Storm bag. As Carolyn turned the pages, she remembered some of the things Malicia said. Her mother had told Malicia about being bullied at school, but Carolyn only found out about her problems by accident. It also seemed that Malicia felt close to her mother for some reason. Carolyn knew that Mrs. Spittori died a few years ago. Maybe her mother was like a woman's influence for Malicia. Carolyn wasn't sure, but she did want to talk to her mother about it. In the mean time, she would learn more about her mother's time at school. As Carolyn approached the page she was searching for, a thought suddenly occurred to her. _I'm going to have to let mom know that I've been reading her diary. If she doesn't ground me forever, maybe I can find out why she ever told us any of this._ Then another thought occurred to her. _Of course, if I was married to my worst enemy in school, I don't think I'd want his kids to know about it either._

_September 21, 1973_

_Dear Diary,_

_Rolf and I used a potion to ignite and set off the fire wards in every dorm except Coeus this morning. We put suspension charms on the potions so that we'd have enough time to get back to our own dorms before the wards went off. Rolf and Carol had transfigured every wall, floor, and ceiling of the Coeus dorm into glass, so when everyone ran outside because of the fire wards, we were all treated to visions of the everyone in the glass dorms waking up confused. Some of them were pretty embarrassed, but that's what they get for having stupid sleep habits. Margie Green was mortified when she saw everyone staring at her in her "beauty" mask._

_The best part was watching George Grace waking up and realizing that everyone could see him sucking his thumb while he slept. I may not get him expelled, but he's not going to live that down for a while. Rolf and Carol cast tickling charms on a couple of Aether seniors. They were laughing so hard, Dean Wilcox assumed that they must have been behind the prank. I can't wait to get together with them tonight and find out what we're going to do next._

_Hannah Mercer_


	10. Ch 09: Attack at Willowood

**Chapter Nine:**

**Attack at Willowood**

The Mole couldn't find the device. He was somewhat rattled. The Crone asked him to hold onto it for her. She wanted it kept safe before the aurors arrived, and he was honored that she would trust him so. No, he had lost it and she would know. He had to find it before the aurors were finished with her. Where was it? He had just had it.

"Mole?"

Oh no, She's here. The aurors must have finished with her quicker than he thought.

"Where are you my pet?"

Please don't let her want it yet.

"I am here mistress," he called to her. The Mole watched the entrance knowing she was coming. His breath caught in his throat as she appeared from the shadows of the darkened hall.

The Crone paused at the entrance, placing one hand on the doorframe, while placing the other on her hip. She gave the Mole a seductive smile as he watched her every move.

"I take it the aurors are finished with you my love?" the Mole asked coming to his knees as the Crone entered the room proper.

"Yes, Mole," she answered. "The Goblin was a tense subject for them, but the house elf, they could care less about. The important thing is that we've learned what we needed from them, and now we can move forward." When she was within an arm's length of him, the Crone reached out to caress the Mole's cheek gently. "Now my pet, come with me. I need to relax."

The Mole let out a shaky breath as he watched his mistress prepare to relax. He didn't even feel the slightest pity to the poor soul that would be under her wand tonight.

Precisely thirty minutes later, two aurors were walking out of the department of magical law enforcement.

"Did you see the way Grace stormed out earlier?" the shorter one asked his partner.

"Oh yeah," the tall blonde said. "She was ready to bring down the ceiling when Spittori told her they had to cut Cosgrove loose."

"Yeah, she shouldn't worry though. Cosgrove's career here is done. They'll get the evidence against her soon enough."

"True," said the blonde. "I always thought she was a little strange. I can't wait to see her face when they bring her in for good."

"Unfortunately" a new voice said. "Neither of you will live to see that happen. Avada Kedavra!"

The shorter auror drew his wand quickly and cast a disarming charm at their opponent. He knew his partner was dead, but by Merlin, he was going to bring this witch in. As he dived towards cover, he heard the witch cackle. Two more curses sailed over his head and he returned fire, blindly hoping that he hit her.

"Oh, Rhodes, do you really think you can beat the Crone?" she asked as he raised his wand to shoot off another spell. "Oh, you will be fun to play with. Bring him along Mole."

The auror Rhodes didn't even hear the wizard step from the shadows behind him. He did however hear the body bind curse just before he felt his entire body stiffen. Rhodes could do nothing as he watched the one she called the Mole lean over him. If he had been able to move, he would have gasped. How did she get to him?

_One auror dead, another missing in another attack_

_- Rowan Romalotti_

_Two aurors were attacked in a daring late night ambush just outside the Offices of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Last night, while leaving work, aurors Martin Mallow and Richard Rhodes were attacked by an unknown assailant._

_The duo was taken by surprise when Malloy was struck down by the killing curse. Rhodes apparently gave a valiant attempt to apprehend their assailant, but was ultimately overcome and taken away. Aurors Spittori and Grace were called into the scene after initial responders noticed strange markings at the scene. Beside the body of Malloy was a message from the attacker stating, "The reign of the Crone is nigh."_

_Aurors refused to comment on the markings, but a source close to the investigation claims that former auror Candace Cosgrove is the leading suspect._

_In related news, Wizard Justice Department Chief Prosecutor Pontius Pendergrass stated that evidence has surfaced indicating that Ms. Cosgrove is indeed responsible for the deaths of the Goblin Garforn at the Charlotte branch of Gringott's Bank as well as her own house elf, Hoba._

_Many in the wizarding community are already speculating as to whether Ms. Cosgrove is indeed 'The Crone" from last night's message, but until the DMLE confirms this, they warn against jumping to conclusions._

_(More on Page 6)_

The whole school was abuzz at the news of the attack the night before. Dean Jarrel did his best to allay their fears and by the end of breakfast, other topics were dominating conversations. Each of the dorms was holding tryouts today for their quidditch teams. Although Carolyn had tried out for the Aether team, and made a good showing, the team captain, a sophomore named Stephen Grimes, decided that her aggressiveness was a bit too severe for friendly school games. After promising to work on her restraint, Stephen promised to keep her in mind should one of his players fall out during the year. Otherwise, she was welcome to try out again next year.

The rest of September settled into a moderately dull routine of classes and free time spent with friends. The investigation into the disappearance of auror Rhodes changed dramatically when his body turned up a week later with another message from The Crone. The mysterious witch, whom the auror department was officially claiming to be Candace Cosgrove. By the end of the month, reports that Cosgrove had either kidnapped or killed three other people made their way to the Wizarding Times. While the world outside of the school became tenser, the world around the school worked into a frenzy of quidditch fever.

By the end of the month, the year's quidditch schedule came out. The last school game would be played for the right to represent the school on March 23, with the national championship falling on the last day of school. According to the notice, every student of participating schools, who have permission from home, would be transported via portkey to the home stadium of the Fitchburg Finches, in Massachusetts. The students, whose parents would not be attending the game, will then be transported back to school to be picked up or transported home. Upon reading the notice, Carolyn became torn between wanting her school to succeed, and hoping they do not. Portkeys, ugh.

The first game of the season occurred on October 6 between Aether and Vishnu dorms. Carolyn noticed that Malicia's friend Robert Tierney had made the Vishnu team and joined, according to the announcer, Captain David Starr, Alexis Schmidt, Dane Christopher, Benjamin Biddle, Pamela Oberton, and Nellie Mueller. Aether team consisted of Captain Stephen Grimes, Phil Stevens, Marcus Billingly, Jenny Wilkes, Heather Reed, Seth Doherty, and Harold Danberry. The school's surfing club presented an aerial display to start the match. The students and staff alike were treated to mind boggling displays of aerialists spinning, gliding, climbing, and diving through the air on various doors. One student flew above the clouds surrounding the stadium only to come diving straight down towards the middle of the pitch, trailing clouds behind her. At the last minute, the surfer pulled up and skimmed a few inches off the ground before rising again in a spiral pattern where she was met by the rest of the squad. Their last maneuver shot the through the clouds, the lead surfer had brought down and out of the stadium. The fans were treated with a ghostly image in the shape of a willow tree for a few seconds before the clouds dissipated.

The game itself was crazy, Carolyn couldn't figure out if both teams had phenomenally good offenses, or if they had amazingly horrible defenses. After forty-five minutes of play, the score was tied at one hundred ten each when Seth Doherty, the Aether seeker and Robert Tierney both went into dives toward the center of the pitch. Just before the two seekers pulled out of their dives, Vishnu chaser, Nellie Mueller, scored another goal, but no one noticed as they were trying to see who had gotten the snitch. The stands erupted when Seth raised his hand showing the tiny golden orb.

The excitement of the first quidditch match fueled the school through the tedium of October's classes. The sixth grade transfiguration classes had advanced from resizing and changing the materials of items to changing those items into something else entirely. Carolyn had gone from turning her leather strap into a sheet of iron to turning it into a pouch, a cup, and a wooden box. The last week of October she had actually managed to turn her strap into most of a mouse, meaning the strap had paws, ears, a tail, and whiskers, but it was still a strap.

Her charm work was getting better as well. She could now have her strap dancing and flying, and was working on getting it to dance in mid-flight. Drew and the green haired girl, Carolyn had learned that she was a half mermaid named Drema Kelp, were still doing a bit better. The two would regularly have their straps dancing or dueling with each other in class and with each new charm, their visual displays became even more elaborate. Her success in class did more good for Drew than Carolyn could have thought. In no time, the shy and quiet girl was gone and replaced with an outgoing friendly one.

Brenda seemed to be the shining star in potions. She was nearly always helping to fix errors in Drew and Carolyn's potions, all the while making sure that she finished her own assignments on time and achieved perfect results. During the last week before Halloween, Mrs. Hungorn had the class scouring the school property and collecting the ingredients for the wiggenweld potion. Mrs. Hungorn promised that they would start the potion the Monday following Halloween. Fortunately, for Drew and Carolyn, Brenda had collected enough ingredients for the three girls to start brewing some practice batches beforehand.

More important than anything else, as far as the trio was concerned, was the fact that each of them still had happy and healthy puffskeins. The roommates had let their puffskeins play together one day and quickly became confused which pet belong to whom. Carolyn solved the problem by changing the color of each puffskein. Carolyn colored hers a blue-cyan before naming it Azxure. After Brenda named hers Rose, it became a soft pink color, while Drew's became an orange color to match the name Ginger. Now that the confusion of ownership was over, the three girls felt free to allow their puffskeins to mingle any time they wanted.

In addition to their continued Muggle Subjects, Astronomy, and History of Magic classes, the sixth graders continued to work through the mundane plants for Herbology. They had worked through seven different mundane plants and had eight more to go before Christmas break. As promised, all of these subjects had been touched upon in their defense classes. Miss Dimwither alternated between wand magic and potions teaching the students how the lessons they had learned in their other classes could apply to defending themselves against those who practice dark magic.

The only things to mar the first two months were the continued news reports of continued attacks by Candace Cosgrove. Two more people had disappeared over the past couple of months. Each crime scene bore the now distinctive signature of "The Crone." The Wizarding Times reported that Carolyn's mother and Mr. Spittori are investigating each disappearance and murder. They announced that although Cosgrove was the leading suspect, she has been quite clever in leaving absolutely no evidence behind.

The morning of Halloween, Dean Jarrel announced that the evening feast would follow a display from the school's dueling club. This announcement caught Carolyn by surprise as she was unaware that the club had formed, let alone been practicing enough to give an exhibition.

"The announcement was on the bulletin board for three weeks," Brenda was telling her. "We just assumed that you weren't interested."

"I'm not," Carolyn responded. "But it's something Kevin would be into. I just wanted to cheer him on."

"Well you can do it now," Drew said.

"Yeah, but it's just weird that he's been going to practice for two months and I didn't even notice. I guess I'm still trying to get used to not knowing what's going on with him all the time like I do at home."

As a special treat, all teachers called off classes for Halloween to allow students the opportunity to enjoy the day fully. Carolyn and her two friends opted to use the day practicing their flying. With Mr. Falconne supervising, the trio, and several others took to the air on school brooms refining their techniques. Before long, more flyers joined, with practice balls for Quidditch. The girls found themselves in an impromptu match. Carolyn took her favorite position as beater while Brenda took a turn playing chaser. By default, Drew ended up as seeker for their side. The game was fun, especially since Carolyn did not display her usual ruthlessness with her bat. After a couple of hours and three separate matches, the players grew tired of playing and one by one, they drifted to the ground and inside to get ready for the evening's festivities.

By six o'clock that evening however, the entire school had assembled in the Dining Hall. The staff had replaced the dorm tables with bleachers lining the sided of the hall leaving a standard dueling platform in the middle. Miss Dimwither stood in the middle of the platform waiting for everyone to take his or her seats. Looking over to the participants, Carolyn saw that the majority of the twenty members of the dueling club were juniors or seniors, with Kevin and Natalee standing as the only representative of the sophomore class, and no one from the lower grades. Once everyone took his or her seat, Miss Dimwither stepped forward.

"Before we begin our display," she announced. "I want to assure you that Dean Jarrel, Ms. Pinkerton, and I have erected protection charms around the dueling platform to prevent stray spells from affecting any of you. If no one has any questions, the please enjoy the show."

As she stepped off the platform, the entire dueling club divided into two groups, each running onto the platform and shooting hexes at one another. With the exception of dark magic, both sides threw spells of every nature at each other. The combatants displayed not only brilliant wand work, but athleticism as well. Carolyn was impressed watching her brother jumping, diving, ducking and dodging spells that came his way, but his girlfriend Natalee made her maneuvers look as if she were dancing to music only she could hear. Within moments, both sides began losing members as they disarmed or stunned their opponents.

Kevin was doing an adequate job of staying "alive" in the contest and had singlehandedly knocked out three of his opponents. As her brother's shield protected him from a stunning spell of a junior on the other side, Natalee slipped a tripping jinx to her boyfriend's feet. Before he could get to his feet, three stunners coming from the remainder of his opponents finally felled Kevin. Unfortunately, for the three, Kevin still had four allies who took advantage of their lack of defenses and ended the match instantly. Once Miss Dimwither and Nurse Shayde revived everyone who was stunned, Miss Dimwither returned to the center of the platform.

"As you have just seen," she said. "Magical battles have little to do with the rules of dueling. Combatants in a battle often find themselves in situations where the odds against them can be daunting. The art of defensive magic can give you the knowledge to protect yourself in battle. The skills you learn from dueling can turn your magical arts into life saving techniques.

"Earlier today," she continued after a polite round of applause. "Two students approached Ms. Willowby with a dueling challenge. Miss Leslie Tropes, who claims that her opponent dealt with her in a dishonorable manner, issued the challenge. Miss Tropes's opponent claims that his dealings with Miss Tropes were honorable until their relationship ended. Answering Miss Tropes's challenge is the Student President, James Fortune."

A round of applause welcomed the two combatants to the platform. The Student President received most of the cheers, with a noticeable exception of five girls in red robes from the other side of the hall.

"You both know the rules," announced Miss Dimwither to the combatants. "No unforgivables, no dark magic, and no curses, hexes, or jinxes which may cause permanent damage." When the two nodded to the teacher she continued, "Face each other. Bow. Salute. Begin!"

Before either of them could take a defensive posture, James called out the silencing charm, pointing his want at her as he spoke. Leslie tried to cast a spell at James but realized that she couldn't make herself heard. Seeing that she was unable to raise a shield, James simply cast the disarming charm and caught Leslie's wand in mid-flight. As Miss Dimwither pronounced him the winner, James walked over to his opponent, and he removed the silencing charm from her before returning her wand and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. The entire assembly roared in laughter as Leslie sent a jinx after him while he ran for cover. Laughing with the crowd, Leslie bowed to and saluted Miss Dimwither before leaving the platform as well.

As soon as Miss Dimwither removed the protection charms from the spectators, Dean Jarrel banished the dueling platform. Carolyn, Drew, and Brenda gave surprised squeals as the realized that everyone was now sitting at their normal dorm tables. Within moments, everyone was buried in the scrumptious meal the house elves had prepared for them.

The Mole crept quietly across the grounds until he saw the building he was looking for. Drawing his wand, he approached the main door and slipped inside. Relying on memory alone, he made his way up to the second floor. He opened each door he came to and peered inside, hoping to glimpse what he sought. It wasn't until he got to the last door that he finally found the room he was looking for. Smiling to himself, he raised his wand and watched as a ghostly image leapt from the tip and scurried off through the walls. In a matter of moments, he saw his mistress gliding down the hallway.

"You are certain that it is here my pet?" she asked.

"Yes Crone," he answered. "I had checked all over Spittori Manor without finding it. It must be here."

"Return to the gate," she said. "I will retrieve the device myself."

As her acolyte departed, the Crone entered the room at the end of the hall. "Revelimagus." She whispered, pointing her wand towards the bed and the sleeping form upon it. Instantly two small objects began glowing. The Crone approached the bed and reached for the round glowing object under the pillow. No sooner had the Crone wrapped her hand around the object than the occupant of the bed turned over, her eyes wide open. The Crone pulled the object from under the pillow just as the occupant screamed out.

"Somebody HELP! INTRUDER!"

The Crone responded with, "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" She stunned the girl and her two roommates in rapid succession. She had just put the last girl back to sleep and placed a note on the first girl's pillow when she heard a loud crack.

"Bill hears young Miss call for help!" the house elf said. Then pointing at the Crone he added. "You're not supposed to be here. Who are you?"

"Avada Kedavra!" the Crone shouted sending the deadly green beam into the elf's chest. Before his tiny body could hit the floor however, the Crone was heading out the door. Too late, she saw the hallways filling with students. She raised her wand and shot a curse into the ceiling.

"Return to your rooms," She called, "or you will not live to see the morning!"

The verbal warning was practically unnecessary, as the only ones left in the hall were the ones too slow to flee after the curse. As she exited the Dorm, she slipped into the shadows and headed to the perimeter of the grounds in order to sneak away undetected.

"Miss Grace, wake up!"

Carolyn opened her eyes to see a light shining directly at her. "Who is it?" she asked with a sleepy voice.

"Miss Grace, you need to come with me, quickly," the voice behind the light demanded.

Carolyn sat bolt upright in the bed shielding her eyes from the light.

"Miss Pinkerton?" she asked.

"Yes," said her dorm monitor. "Now please get your robe and slippers on and come with me."

Carolyn moved to do as she was told, looking over to the sleeping forms of Drew and Brenda.

"What about them," she asked, indicating her friends.

"They will be informed of what has happened when they wake. Now please come with me to Dean Jarrel's office. Your parents are waiting."

"My parents," said Carolyn as an icy chill fell down her back. "What's happened?"

"You'll find out when you get there," her teacher said. "I'm afraid I am not permitted to tell you until we get to the administration building. Rest assured that everyone if fine and there is no immediate danger."

Carolyn left her room behind her Charms teacher to find her brother in the hallway with Miss Dimwither, Mr. Juniper, and another teacher in dark purple robes. Carolyn assumed this was the Clerical Studies teacher Mr. Hermes, who was also the Coeus dorm monitor.

"Kevin," she said, as the group led them out of the dorm, "what's going on? Why are mom and dad here?"

Kevin shrugged, "Don't know. Mr. Hermes woke me up and rushed me over here to get you. They said we'd find out when we get to Dean Jarrel's office."

The group left the dorm and headed towards the administration building with Miss Dimwither and Mr. Hermes in the lead. Kevin and Carolyn were behind them, and Miss Pinkerton and Mr. Juniper brought up the rear. Once they were inside the building, Miss Dimwither and Mr. Juniper remained at the entrance while the dorm monitors led their students to the Dean's office.

Carolyn saw both of her parents first, and then noticed that Malicia and Mr. Spittori were there as well as the Dean. A sense of dread came over Carolyn as she wondered what she was going to be accused of this time.

"Kevin, Carolyn, please take a seat," Mr. Jarrel said indicating the chairs in front of his desk. The siblings did as they were told and waited for the axe to fall. "I am afraid that there has been another attack on Miss Spittori tonight." The Dean started. Immediately Carolyn jumped to her feet.

"Dean Jarrel, I swear I have not been attacking her. In fact, I haven't even said two words to her in over a month. Whatever happened I was in my-"

"Miss Grace sit down and be quiet!" the dean said showing frustration. "No one is accusing you off the attack. In fact, we already know who it was tonight."

"Who," Kevin asked. "And what does it have to do with us if you know it wasn't us."

"Malicia was attacked by The Crone," Mr. Spittori said. "She left a note behind, and her signature is on the gates of the school."

Carolyn's jaw dropped as she looked at her parents for confirmation. As her mother moved behind them, her father came straight to her to wrap her up in a protective hug.

"It's ok Pumpkin," he said. "Dean Jarrel and the other teachers are designing new wards to put around the school to make sure no one can get in without specific permission from the dean himself."

"But why would Cosgrove attack Malicia," Kevin asked. "And I still don't know why we're here."

"We believe," said Mr. Jarrel, "that Miss Spittori was attacked because her father is investigating the Crone's criminal activity." He paused for a moment looking at Malicia's frightened face before continuing. "And since your mother is assisting Mr. Spittori, it is natural to assume that the two of you may be targeted as well."

"What does this mean," Carolyn asked.

"It means," said her father, "that because your mom and Mr. Spittori are so close to putting her in Bermuda for a very long time, the Crone may try to hurt them by going after you children."

"So are we going to have to leave school?" Kevin asked.

"That would just be playing into the fear," his mother answered. "Dean Jarrel has erected some sufficient wards. I do not think that Cosgrove can re-enter the school any time soon. Rolf and I will also reinforce these wards with some protections of our own," she said sharing a brief smile with Mr. Spittori.

"What I want," Dean Jarrel continued, "is for each of you to make certain that even here at school, none of you go anywhere alone." Seeing all three of the children nod, he went on. "Kevin, you and your friends can hold your own briefly in the event of trouble, but you will not be going into town at all until Candace Cosgrove is brought to justice." Kevin started to protest until his mother placed a hand on his shoulder and Mr. Jarrel continued. "Malicia, Carolyn, since you are members of different dorms, I cannot force the two of you to remain together during this crisis. Therefore, I insist that in addition to your friends, neither of you are to go anywhere without a teacher accompanying you. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," the girls said in unison.

"Good" the Dean said. "I need to help set up the protections on the school. Please stay here with your parents until I return."

As soon as the Dean closed his door behind him, Carolyn and Kevin were both on their feet. While Kevin turned to his parents to find out more about what was going on, Carolyn went over to Malicia.

"Are you ok Malicia?" she asked. "What happened tonight?" Malicia looked at her queerly before responding.

"I felt someone trying to pull my pillow out from under my head," she began. "I think she must have been trying to smother me like a muggle so no one would know it was her." Malicia shivered and a tear slid down her face. "She had on a weird mask," the girl continued. "It was gold and had a long nose on it. When I called for help she stunned me."

"Oh my God," Carolyn said, rushing to put her arm around her least favorite classmate. "You are so lucky she didn't hurt you worse."

As the two embraced, Kevin looked at the girl curiously.

"Why didn't she finish?" he asked.

"KEVIN!" Carolyn and their mother said at once, both with an angry look on their faces.

"What I mean was," he said apologetically, "she had Malicia there at her mercy, why stun her? Why not just finish her? Was she trying to kidnap her or what?"

"We believe," said Mr. Spittori, "that it was Cosgrove's intent to kidnap my daughter, but the house elf stopped her."

"What house elf?" Kevin and Carolyn both asked.

"Old Bill," their father answered. "Plicky's son was killed trying to help Malicia."

"Oh my God," Carolyn said for the second time in under five minutes. "I knew him. How is Miss Plicky?"

"We don't know," said Mr. Spittori. "As soon as she found out about him, she disapparated off of the grounds."

At this news, Malicia and Carolyn sat once again, this time huddled close to each other. As Carolyn tried to comfort Malicia, she also began weeping for the loss of her friend Bill, whom she had only just begun knowing. Kevin eventually joined them, trying to offer comfort to the two sixth graders and promising that the entire dueling club would officially be their bodyguards until the Crone was caught.

After several long hours, Dean Jarrel returned with Mr. Hermes, Mrs. Stratus, and Miss Pinkerton. As the teachers stood by the door, Mr. Jarrel sat at his desk and released a heaving sigh.

"The enchantments are in place," he began. "Mr. Spittori, Mrs. Grace, some members of the Department of Mysteries showed up to help reinforce them as well as add additional enchantments. A Mr. Jenkins said you could stop by his office tomorrow," Mr. Jarrel said to the two aurors, "to go over what they have done. They're also going to put these enchantments over the other four schools as well.

"As for you three," he continued looking to his students. "It is unfair to ask you to stay up all night and then go to classes. I am told that you have sufficiently high grades that missing your first two classes today will not place a toll on your scores. Therefore, I want the three of you to go enjoy breakfast while we move Miss Spittori and her roommates to another room. Afterwards, I want each of you to report to your dorm monitors, where they will give you a mild potion to allow you some sleep."

"Dean Jarrel," Kevin interrupted, "I am used to getting only a couple of hours of sleep per night. If I may, I would still like to go to class." Dean Jarrel thought about this for a moment.

"No Kevin," he said. "First of all, I want the three of you to get plenty of rest. In addition to your class work and extra-curricular activities, you now have to be more cautious about everything. I also want Mr. Spittori and your mother to help me explain to the rest of the school what has happened and assure everyone that the school is safe. I can do that easier without everyone pestering you for information."

Kevin nodded as Dean Jarrel reminded them that they would have to travel in groups, and for the younger two, with a teacher, until this crisis was over. When he was finished, the staff monitors led their students from the Dean's office to the still empty Dining Hall, where they ate a quiet breakfast at the same table.

When they had nearly completed their breakfasts, Mrs. Hungorn entered the Dining Hall with three stoppered phials of potion. Giving one to each of the staff dorm monitors, she gave each of the students her best wishes before exiting the hall again. In no time flat, Carolyn found herself being led back to the Aether Dorm by Miss Pinkerton. As the two rounded a corner, Carolyn looked back to see her bother and Mr. Hermes disappear into the Coeus Dorm. She assumed that Malicia and Mrs. Stratus were already in the Vishnu Dorm. Miss Pinkerton led Carolyn up to her room where her two roommates were just waking up.

"Where have you been?" Brenda asked at the same time Drew asked, "What happened?"

"Dean Jarrel will be informing everyone of what has happened at breakfast," Miss Pinkerton said. "After breakfast, I want the two of you to come to my office, next to the Charms classroom."

When the two girls agreed, Miss Pinkerton gave Carolyn her sleeping potion, which the eleven-year-old drank quickly. The last thing Carolyn remembered was Miss Pinkerton telling her roommates not to disturb her until lunch.

By the time Carolyn awoke, the whole school knew what had happened to Malicia the night before. Miss Pinkerton informed Drew and Brenda that they were not to allow Carolyn to go anywhere alone. They in turn informed their best friend that all teachers had cancelled classes for the day. It seems that the teachers who had helped build the protection wards were extremely tired. In fact, they didn't feel like teaching at all today. Fortunately, enough teachers received enough rest the night before that the students did not have free reign over the campus. Carolyn and her friends decided to spend the rest of the day tucked into their dorm except for meals. Carolyn didn't think she could handle all of the questions everyone must be asking. She wondered how poor Malicia was handling things.

At dinner, Dean Jarrel informed the students that as an added measure of security, Mrs. Nightingale had arranged for a pair of Japanese Demiguises to take up stations outside the gates to the school. The creatures would remain invisible until someone approached the gates. Additionally, the school cancelled all trips to Weeping Meadows until the town could ensure the safety of the students. By bed time, the girls had gotten all of their homework caught up, fed and played with their puffskeins, and practiced the various charms and spells they had covered in their classes. After releasing Alcina for her nightly exercises and feeding, Carolyn and her friends turned in early expecting business as usual for the next day.

The next morning not only brought the return of their classes, but by now the entire wizarding world knew that the school had been attacked. Carolyn slowly ate her oatmeal as she read the newspaper Drew had gotten from the Library on the way to breakfast.

_Attack at Willowood_

_- Rowan Romalotti_

_Just before midnight Thursday, Willowood school became the scene of the latest attack by the dark witch known as The Crone. Malicia Spittori, daughter of auror Rolf Spittori was attacked and nearly killed by The Crone in what appears to have been a kidnap attempt._

_Aurors believe that along with Miss Spittori, the children of Hannah Grace, Mr. Spittori's partner, may have also been targets, as they too attend the prestigious school._

_The Crone's attack was thwarted by the courageous actions of one of Willowood's house elves, who died in his attempt to save Miss Spittori. The elf in question was known as Bill, who was the son of the school's History of Magic teacher._

_As The Crone made her escape, she left behind a note addressed to this newspaper, as well as her now trademark signature upon the gates of the school._

_Dean William Jarrel spent yesterday morning assuring students and parents that all was well at the school and that enchantments had been erected to prevent The Crone's return._

_Indeed, the Department of Magic has confirmed that every school in the country now has several enchantments protecting them from intrusion by anyone not specifically invited by school administrators._

_The Crone's note can be read in its entirety below._

_To Rowan Romalotti and The Wizarding Times:_

_From this point on, you and the rest of wizarding society will refer to me as The Crone. Candace Cosgrove is dead and The Crone is rising in power. There are no demands to convey for I will be taking that which I desire with no negotiations. Attempts to stop me will be met with the harshest of punishments. Please advise the Department of Magic that they are officially on notice. Very soon, the seat of the Secretary will be mine and the changes necessary for a peaceful existence will be made._

_**The Crone**_

Carolyn shoved the newspaper away in disgust. Something was wrong with that witch. She had killed more than a half a dozen people including a goblin and two house elves. Carolyn didn't believe for a second that those murders were a play for the position of Secretary of Magic. Cosgrove was up to something. Carolyn just hoped her mother and Mr. Spittori found out what before anyone else got hurt.


	11. Ch 10: The Second Attack

**Chapter Ten:**

**The Second Attack**

November 3 was a cool clear morning and excellent for Quidditch. Carolyn and her roommates grabbed their jackets before heading to breakfast, none of them wanting to come back to the room before heading to the stands. Dean Jarrel had initially wanted to cancel the game, but the students banded together to insist that the game be played. With Aether Dorm securing the initial berth in the school semi-finals, everyone was eager to see which two teams would join them. Today's match between Tyche and Komodia promised to be a tight one. From everything Carolyn had heard, both teams had similar playing styles and everyone assumed that it would come down to whichever seeker caught the snitch first.

Carolyn, Drew, and Brenda settled into their seats, just as the school's sky surfing club flew into the stadium to put on another dazzling display of aerial acrobatics. This time with the participants casting spells in mid-flight. Carolyn was shocked to see Drema Kelp on one of the doors dodging every obstacle the lead surfer conjured in front of her. As talented as Drema was, the lead surfer impressed Carolyn the most. Carolyn watched the tall boy with the crew cut zipping through the sky without looking where he was going. He kept his focus on creating the barriers behind him allowing his instincts to guide the door.

After a ten-minute display of some of the most fantastic flying Carolyn had ever seen, the lead door surfer pointed his wand to the pitch below, summoning a broom to him. Once the broom was within a few feet of him, he leapt from his door, flicking his wand at it before landing smoothly on his broom. The door burst into several dozen pieces, which became a flock of white doves. Drema plowed straight through the flock causing them to fly off in different directions before heading to the ground in a somewhat subdued landing.

The lead surfer however remained aloft transfiguring his bodysuit into emerald green quidditch robes as six other players dressed the same way joined him. The announcer introduced the Tyche team starting with Blake McKinney the surfer, slash quidditch captain, and continuing with Abraham Barnes, Jaime McGowan, Kirby Little, Sophie Lane, Leanna Salazar, Jaida Tal, and Heidi Mayer. The team flew a lap around the stadium before landing for the start of the match.

Once the Tyche players were on the ground, seven players in yellow robes took to the air. The announcer introduced them as Captain Grace Compton, Kailey Fernandez, Alanna Velazquez, Brooklyn Roberson, Sienna Olson, Kenzie Stanton, and Mikayla Sosa. According to the announcer, the all-girl Komodia team has held the school title for six of the last seven years, marred only by last year's loss to the all-boy Coeus team, who would be playing Ponus in just four short weeks.

The match started out with a salvo of goals from Tyche that Velazquez seemed to be able to stop. The Komodia seeker Fernandez kept trailing Tyche's McGowan across the pitch hoping to chase after him in the run for the snitch. When McKinney brought the score to triple digits in favor of Tyche, McGowan decided to get rid of his tail by going into an impressive dive towards Komodia's goals. Fernandez followed closely, but veered off from the feint quickly as she realized the ploy and headed in the opposite direction. Velazquez allowed her attention to wander to the seekers, giving McKinney, Tal, and Lane the chance to score on her again. Frustrated, Compton called for a time out.

Once the ladies from Komodia were on the ground, Compton began chewing Velazquez out threatening to pull her out of the game. Velazquez stood there and took the dressing down without even glancing at her captain. Compton went to check with Mr. Falconne while the rest of her team took the time to grab a refreshment and converse with one another. Soon, all fourteen players were back in the air, this time Grace Compton was manning the goals while Velazquez took her spot as chaser. The switch seemed to work as Brooklyn Roberson and Sienna Olsen scored two quick goals on Barnes.

Tyche answered with a shot from McKinney through Compton's hands into the center goal on Komodia, bringing the score to 160 to 20 in favor of Tyche. Olsen retrieved the quaffle shooting toward the other end of the pitch dodging both bludgers in the process. When the three Tyche chasers began to surround her, she looked about for someone to take the quaffle. Seeing Roberson out of position, she tossed the ball to Velazquez who was ignoring it, even when it struck her in the back. Velazquez continued flying forward as the other five chasers dove to retrieve the quaffle. In the confusion, Fernandez made a play for the snitch she had noticed near her own goal posts.

Fernandez had a good lead on McGowan and wrapped her hand around the tiny golden ball before McKinney could get into position to throw the quaffle one final time. Five of the other Komodia players surrounded the seeker to congratulate her on the spectacular save. The yellow-robed girls were elated at the win, especially as it was so narrow. None of them noticed their seventh player still flying towards the end of the stadium, where the Coeus dorm was watching the celebration.

All joy stopped suddenly when a loud crack sounded throughout the stadium. Everyone looked to where the noise came from. Alanna Velazquez had her wand out pointing to a large hole she blasted into the stadium where the Coeus student had been sitting. Chaos erupted as everyone started exiting the stadium. Carolyn froze, her eyes frantically searching the stands for Kevin. Another bolt of lightning shot from the Komodia senior's wand and Carolyn watched where she targeted. Kevin dodged as the bolt struck the earth where he had been standing. Foolishly, her brother drew his own wand. Fearing for his life, Carolyn mentally activated her ring and flew off in the direction of her brother's attacker. Two more spells escaped her quarry's wand in the seconds it took for Carolyn to close in. Too late, Carolyn saw as Kevin shot a red beam from his wand just as she collided with Alanna.

Carolyn opened her eyes slowly. She was lying in a bed in a room with taupe walls. Looking around she noticed other beds in the room, two others had occupants in them as well. To her left was her brother. Carolyn sat bolt upright as the memory of what happened came back to her. Kevin had been fighting a flying Alanna Velazquez.

"Kevin," she said.

Her brother looked over at her and smiled.

"I'm fine kiddo," he said. "She just nicked me a little."

It was then that Carolyn noticed Kevin's right arm had bandages from his shoulder to his wrist.

"What happened?" she asked.

Kevin turned his head to look at the other filled bed at the end of the ward.

"According to Nurse Shayde," he began, "Alanna was under the effects of a potion. We should have known something was up, she never allows that many goals."

"What kind of potion?"

"Don't know," Kevin answered. "I only heard Miss Shayde talking to Dean Jarrel. They thought I was still asleep." Then turning back to his sister, his eyes focused on her with a bit of a scowl. "You shouldn't have flown out to her," he said. "You nearly got yourself killed. If Mr. Falconne hadn't been right behind you, you would have broken your neck after my stunner hit you."

"I was trying to stop her from killing you," Carolyn said hotly.

"I know sis," he said calmly, "but I was defending pretty well. I was just going to stun her then levitate her to the ground. I activated the ring so I wouldn't miss. I just didn't count on you being there to catch the spell instead of her."

"I'm sorry," Carolyn said as a tear started down her cheek. "I was just so afraid for you, and I couldn't just stand there and watch her kill you."

"I know kiddo," Kevin said. "I think we're both in trouble though. Dean Jarrel called in Mom and dad as well as Alanna's folks."

As if on cue, the doors to the medical ward opened and Dean Jarrel led a group of people into the ward. Seeing Carolyn and Kevin awake, he motioned for his guests to remain while he approached the siblings.

"Kevin, Carolyn, thank Merlin the two of you are alright," he said when he approached. "Do the two of you feel up to answering a few questions?"

"Yes of course sir," Kevin answered for both of them.

"Very well," the Dean said. "Your mother has sent a team of aurors to find out what happened, but she and your father are in my office, waiting to come see you." At that, Dean Jarrel turned and motioned for his visitors to come forward. Two of them, Mr. Spittori, and one other came over, both wearing the patch of the Auror Corps on their robes.

"Kevin, Carolyn," Mr. Spittori said. "I am so sorry this has happened to you. This is auror Wallace," he indicated the tall auror with him. "I hate to be blunt coming into this, but your parents are eager to see you. Can you tell me what happened on the quidditch field today?"

Carolyn looked at her brother as he began.

"We were watching the match," Kevin began, "and Alanna seemed distracted the whole time. She had let like sixteen shots through, and she rarely let's anyone score on her. After a while, Grace Compton switch positions with her and she still seemed out of it, letting the quaffle hit her in the back while she flew toward our end of the stadium. We were watching Komodia celebrate squeaking out a win, I got a bad feeling and pushed a bunch of people out of the way at about the same time she shot the first lightning spell.

"I went down to the field while everyone else was clearing the stadium," he continued, "hoping to figure out what was going on, but she started sending curses at me as soon as she saw me. I dodged a few of them, but she hit my arm with a cutting curse. When I went to stun her, Carolyn flew into her, and I got my sister instead." When he looked over to her, Carolyn saw that a tear was now leaking from her brother's eye. "If Mr. Falconne hadn't been there, I would have killed my sister. The next thing I knew I was waking up here with these bandages on my arm."

"Is that about the way you remember it Carolyn?" Mr. Spittori asked her.

"Yes sir," she said. "Why did she attack Kevin, Mr. Spittori?"

"May I?" he asked Kevin, indicating the foot of his bed. Kevin nodded his permission.

"According to Nurse Shayde," he began sitting on the edge of Kevin's bed. "She smelled mint and hellebore on her breath. She checked her out and found she was under the influence of a potion that mimics the imperius curse. She's going to stay for observation, and Wallace and his team will investigate how she was exposed to it."

"Do you think Cosgrove is behind it?" Kevin asked.

"We're trying to keep her temper down for the time being," Mr. Spittori said. "We're adhering to her demands that she be referred to as The Crone until we can capture her, but yes. It looks like The Crone is targeting both your mother's family and mine, as well as several others in the wizarding community."

"Because you guys are investigating her?" Carolyn asked.

"That's Mrs. Leonhard's theory, yes."

"Why is she so hard to find?" Kevin asked.

"The Crone is very crafty," Auror Wallace offered. "On top of her already considerable skills, she also has the advantage of being an auror herself. She knows how we operate and can elude our tracking with ease. It's quite amazing," he said with a hint of a smile. "She seems to know what we're thinking before we even know we need to think it."

Carolyn, Kevin, and Mr. Spittori all glared at the auror, causing him to clear his throat and excuse himself.

"Mr. Spittori," Carolyn said quietly. "Can we go see mom and dad now?"

The auror looked at her with a sad smile. "Yes, of course," he said. "I should warn you though they're both restraining your house elf to keep her from barging in here."

For the second time that week, Dean Jarrel had Carolyn's family and the Spittori's assembled in his office. Carolyn went over to her mother hoping for some answers. Mr. Spittori and Malicia were quietly sitting in the chairs furthest from the doors.

"Mr. and Mrs. Grace," the Dean said looking to her parents. "Mr. Spittori, I want to first let you know how terribly sorry I am for what is happening."

"Who slipped the child the potion and ordered her to kill my son," Mrs. Grace asked.

"We don't know just yet," answered Dean Jarrel. "Our Beast Mistress has spoken with the Demiguises, before you ask, I do not know how she communicates with them, and she assures me that no one has entered the gates since The Crone attacked Malicia on Halloween. There are no back entrances, and our new wards protect from anyone entering via apparition, portkey, or flying."

"So what you are saying," said Mr. Spittori, "is that whoever attacked Kevin is still on the premises."

"Not necessarily" said the Dean. "The potion could have been administered at any point in the past month and Miss Velazquez ordered to act at a prescribed time."

"So The Crone could have done it when she attempted to kill Malicia," Mr. Spittori asked.

"It's possible," answered the Dean. "Rest assured that no one can enter the school grounds now without express permission from me. This has caused some friction with the rest of the staff, but if one of the guests I approve happens to be an agent for her, then it will fall upon me for allowing them entrance."

"Has anyone arrived via floo recently?" Mr. Grace asked.

"No," the dean answered. "My office is the only one connected to the floo network. No one has come through my grate since the three of you left Thursday night."

"Hannah, George," Mr. Spittori said, turning to the Graces. "I am loathe to allow Mally out of my sight until we capture her, but I truly believe that the children are safer here than at home."

"Safer here?" Carolyn's dad snarled. "Malicia was attacked in her bed four nights ago, and Kevin was attacked in front of hundreds of witnesses this morning! How can that be safer?" by the end of his question, the senior Grace was nearly bellowing.

"George!" his wife nearly shouted. "The new wards and protective measures are comparable to those surrounding the capitols in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The Secretary has decreed that our schools be as protected as our centers of government. Do you really think that our children would be safer in Piedmont Acres?"

"They'd at least be with us," George Grace fumed. "We wouldn't have to wait until the attack is over before finding out they were in danger."

"And what about the other dangers," Hannah asked. "When The Crone attacks, she is not going to attack alone. She already has at least a dozen followers. Can you fend off that many alone? Can the three of us combined fend off a dozen dark witches and wizards?"

"Hannah is right George," Mr. Spittori interjected. "As good as you are, and as well trained as we are, I am afraid that alone, we'd be no match against The Crone's forces. At least here, she would have to get past the staff before getting to the students."

"She managed to do that quite easily twice so far," George, grumbled.

"Dad," Kevin said calmly. "Dean Jarrel has already made certain that none of us travel alone. Carolyn and Malicia even have to have a teacher escort them wherever they go. Maybe, we could increase that security."

"What do you suggest?" Dean Jarrel asked.

"Well," Kevin began, "I don't want to downplay the danger and say that I can handle myself. It's obvious that if she can get to one of my friends, we would never know whom our next attacker could be. Maybe if we hired a bodyguard to watch over us until Mom and Mr. Spittori catches her."

"Don't be ridiculous Kevin," his mother said. "It may take a while to capture The Crone. The cost of security for that period would be-"

"Covered," her husband interrupted, "by the Grace Family Trust." Turning to his son he added, "Excellent idea Kevin, I'll contact Gregory as soon as I'm home, and Boris Grayson will arrange the finances."

"Excuse please," a tiny voice said from a corner. "Geely will watch over young Miss and Master until wizards arrive. Geely will not let any Crone at her children."

Carolyn looked at her diminutive friend for the first time since entering the Dean's office. Seeing the determined look on Geely's face made the sixth grader feel better immediately, but a sudden concern came to mind.

"Geely," Carolyn said to the tiny elf. "That woman is not afraid of killing house elves. She's already killed one that was our friend."

"Bad Crone will have to kill Geely to hurt Miss Carolyn or Master Kevin," the elf said defiantly. "If children gets hurt without Geely here, Geely would not want to live anyways." Seeing the determination the elf showed inspired Carolyn's father.

"Bill," he said to the Dean. "Will you allow Geely to stay here at the school until I can arrange for security for the children?"

"George, there are more than your children at risk," Mr. Spittori said, cutting off the Dean.

"Rolf, I am willing to hire enough guards to watch over all three children plus an additional few to patrol the grounds making sure all students are safe."

"You are asking me to allow a contingent of mercenaries to wander my school?" Dean Jarrel asked.

"No Bill, I am asking you to allow me to place security agents on the school to protect the student body."

Dean Jarrel looked torn between outrage and resignation. On one hand, he knew that The Crone had wandered freely throughout his school once while he was powerless to stop her. He was also acutely aware of the fact that her actions had caused another attack after he had set up security measures around the school. On the other hand, allowing a parent, regardless of how close a friend they were, to install further security could be interpreted by many as a lack of faith in him. William Jarrel looked at his friend and the three children entrusted to his care. He made up his mind.

"George, I would rather be thought of as weak and allow you to protect these children than to allow my pride to cause them harm," he said. "Just make certain that each agent is fully vetted and is in no way connected to Cosgrove."

"Not a problem," Mr. Grace said. "I will use the agency that my family has worked with in the past. My cousin knows nearly every security wizard in the company."

"Good enough," the Dean said before looking up to Mr. Spittori. "Mr. Spittori, are these arrangements are good with you?"

Malicia and her father shared a look before the older Spittori glanced at his partner. "I can't find a fault with it," he said.

"Excellent," the Dean said, finally coming around to sit in his chair. "If you would like, you and Malicia can enjoy a nice dinner in the Dining Hall. I'm sure by now, the rest of the students have retired to their dorms, and you should have some privacy. I need to discuss some other things with the Graces."

"Of course," Mister Spittori said, rising and gathering his cloak. Once he and Malicia were out of the office and the door closed, Dean Jarrel focused his entire attention on Carolyn.

"Now, Miss Grace," He said. "I wanted to discuss with you your actions this morning."

"What actions?" Mrs. Grace asked giving her daughter a glare. "Have you been fighting with Mally again?"

"Mom, no. I-"

"I was actually referring to her actions during the attack," Dean Jarrel interrupted.

"But sir," Carolyn began as color crept into her face. "Alanna was attacking Kevin. I didn't start that fight."

"You're not in trouble for fighting Carolyn," The dean said trying to calm the girl. "I'm sure you were too worried about your brother to notice, but you somehow managed to fly out to Miss Velazquez without the aid of a broom or a door. Needless to say, this did not go unnoticed by others."

"Bill," Carolyn's dad began.

"I know," the Dean said holding up a hand to his old friend, "about the Grace family rings. I take it yours is a special gift?" he asked continuing to look at Carolyn.

"Yes sir," Carolyn said looking down at her hands.

"Unfortunately, your brother's gift is much less noticeable," The Dean said. "I must ask you to refrain from using your ring at school Carolyn. I understand these are family legacies, but I cannot allow their blatant use at school. If other students became aware of where your ability came from, it would open the door to allow other artifacts into the school, some of which may not be as benevolent. I am afraid that if I catch you in the air again unsupported by a broom or a door, you will be forced to relinquish your ring until the end of term or until your parents come to retrieve it."

"Yes sir," Carolyn said still blushing and looking at her hands.

"Bill, that's not going to be possible," her father said.

"What's not possible?" Dean Jarrel asked, a scowl appearing on his face.

"Here's the thing about the rings," George began. "They can only be worn by blood-born Graces. They recognize the blood and shape to fit the finger of the wearer. They automatically resize as they grow and are almost never removed."

"So where's the problem?" Dean Jarrel asked.

"There are only two ways for a Grace ring to be removed. First, if the individual dies, and second if he or she is disowned by the Grace family."

"What!" Dean Jarrel asked, obviously outraged.

"Well, I did have a great-great uncle who tried to cut off his finger, but the ring just appeared on another one."

"Are you telling me that your family entrusts magical artifacts like these rings to children without any safeguards or chance for removal?" The Dean bellowed. "Why in blazes did I not know this before?"

"Why would you?" George asked.

"Why would I?" The dean asked hotly standing to come back around his desk. "Do you not recall the trouble you and I got up to thanks to your ring? What about Carol? What if one of your children's rings got her power? Don't you think that is something you should have told me about once you realized that I would be responsible for your children nine months out of the year?"

"Carol never used her power at school!" George shouted rising to his feet as well.

"No!" the Dean shouted back. "She waited to use it on poor unsuspecting muggle-borns and their families in Europe!"

Carolyn jumped up in shock as her father's fist made contact with the dean's jaw. Kevin too looked speechless as their mother stood to usher them out of the office. The Dean had mentioned their father's sister who had died over twenty years earlier. No one had ever mentioned her except in passing, and no one certainly mentioned her being in Europe. Nevertheless, both children were hesitant to leave their father in what looked to be shaping into a fight.

"Sit down!" Dean Jarrel said to everyone. Hannah and her children did as they were told, though Hannah did have a murderous look on her face as she did it. George remained standing breathing heavily.

"That was a cheap shot," the Dean said. "But I couldn't think of any way to drive home to you how dangerous these rings can be."

Once his breathing became more normal, George Grace looked at his old friend with a pained expression. "Bill," he began "Do you really think that I would take such a risk? I know what kind of mischief kids can get into. If Kevin or Carolyn's rings had shown even a remotely malevolent power, I would have them home schooled. But yes, all ring powers have the potential for abuse, but our little escapades aside, no one has ever abused their powers at school and even afterwards, only under extremely unique situations."

The Dean gave Carolyn's father an annoyed look when he mentioned _unique situations_, but wisely chose not to comment. Instead, he looked at both of the Grace children before speaking.

"Understand this," he said very slowly. "Except under lifesaving circumstances, if I catch either of you using your ring powers at school, I will not hesitate to expel whoever uses it. Furthermore, you will not share your rings abilities with anyone else at this school. If one student brings a powerful magical artifact to this school claiming it is a family heirloom, I will assume that one of you defied me. Regardless of how much I like and respect you and your parents, I will not allow anything to risk the health and well-being of your fellow students. Am I clear?"

For a moment, Carolyn forgot that the Dean was merely half her size. His anger made him feel at least twenty foot tall.

"Am I clear?" the Dean repeated.

"Yes sir," the Grace children said in unison.

"Go get something to eat," he told to the four of them. "George, we'll talk about this another time." He said as his friend walked past him.

As the family made their way towards the Dining Hall, Malicia and her father were heading out the door.

"Rolf," Hannah called out picking up her pace to catch them.

"Yes?" he answered stopping at the open door.

"Leaving already?" she asked.

"Yes, Mally is worn out, and I figured I'd go to the office and get some work done while you spend a little time with George and the kids."

"Ok then," Hannah said after a brief pause. Then, kneeling down to Malicia she said, "I'm sorry you have to go through all of this. Stay tough though huh kiddo? It'll all be over soon."

"Yes ma'am," Malicia said as her father's partner gave her a tight hug.

As Malicia and her father left the Administration Building, Hannah rejoined her family and entered the Dining hall, where three house elves waited to serve them dinner.

"Dad," Carolyn said, when they were nearly finished with their dinner. "What did Dean Jarrel mean when he said Aunt Carol used her ring power on muggle-borns and their families?"

Hannah glared at her daughter as George laid down his fork and sighed. He had been lucky. Kevin went through fifteen years of life without asking about his aunt Carol. George hoped that they would have gone the rest of their lives without being curious. He should have known his luck would not hold when his precocious daughter set her teeth into it. Looking over to his wife for help, he sighed again as she merely shrugged.

"When your aunt Carol was eleven," George began, "your grandpa gave her a Grace ring just like everyone else got. It took a while for her ring to present its power, or so we thought." Their father took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "When she was thirteen, my dad and I were hunting in the woods close to Grace Hill. We came upon one of the family's thestrals that shouldn't have been away from the stables. It was dead. It had been butchered. We eventually found out that my sister had killed it. She claimed that it had snuck up on her and frightened her, so she reacted with her ring, which had the power of harming her opponents. Your grandpa was worried about her ring power, but she swore that she would never use the power unless it was to save her life, so he let it go.

"When your aunt Carol was seventeen, she left school and moved to Europe. Everyone tried to stop her. We warned her that it was too dangerous with what was going on over there. We tried to stay in contact with her, but she never answered a single owl. Finally, after four years, shortly after I graduated, I went to England to find my sister. What I found instead was a monster. She had joined up with you-know-who, and was torturing and murdering muggle-borns and their families. She fought alongside him against England's Ministry of Magic, and a few others.

"When I first saw her over there, she was in a hospital called St. Mungos. She had led a raid that targeted a few key Ministry workers but it had been a trap. She and five other Death Eaters were sent to the hospital. They said Albus Dunbledore himself was there that day and was responsible for injuring most of the surviving Death Eaters. Regardless, by the time I saw her, she was absolutely insane. I went into her room, but I had no idea that a medi-witch had gone in just before me. Carol was standing over her body with a wand when I walked in. I still don't know what kept her from killing me. She ended up stunning me and escaping with two of her friends.

"A year later, we got word from one of England that Carol wanted to turn herself in, but she wanted her family there when she did. Uncle Gaspar wanted to go, but dad talked him out of it. Instead, your grandpa, your mom, who had just joined the Auror Corps, her trainer Mr. Spittori, Candace Cosgrove, and I went.

"When we got there, we met with this guy, who claimed to be with the ministry and he told us where we would find Carol. He said that her demands were that we come alone and we could lead her to the Ministry so she could give testimony. We got to where she said to meet her, but it turned out it was a trap. She was furious that Uncle Gaspar wasn't there, but some of her friends were. When it was all said and done, your grandpa and I were nearly killed, but Rolf, Candace, and your mom ended up taking out four of them, including your aunt Carol."

When he finished, George Grace realized that his eyes were not the only ones filled with tears. Both of his children had tears running down their own cheeks.

"Did the ring make her evil?" Kevin asked once his father regained most of his composure.

"That was the first thing I asked," his father said. "In fact, that's what I believed until this past summer. Uncle Gaspar has done checks on each ring that's been crafted since. If any ring shows signs of malevolent powers, he has it re-forged."

"Why did she want Uncle Gaspar there?" Carolyn asked.

"We think it was a power play to get him under her master's control so they'd have access to the family fortune and our contacts in America. Whatever the reason, it died with your aunt."

"What happened this summer to change your mind?" Kevin asked.

George sat there for a minute before answering his son. "When your aunt Carol was six years old, something happened that traumatized her so badly that she became fascinated with a dark branch of magic. A lot of people said she had other reasons for her fascination, but I firmly believe it was this trauma that caused it. Whatever the reason, she had become so knowledgeable of this branch that you-know-who was attracted to her. Once she went to him, she ended up twisted under his influence. She offered to use our family and our contacts to another family in America to try and assassinate a member of that family for his active participation in working both in the magical and muggle worlds."

"What did she witness?" Carolyn asked.

"I'm not going to discuss that," her father said, snapping his head up and casting a fear filled gaze at his daughter. "I'm afraid just talking about it will give you nightmares for the rest of your life."

Carolyn could tell that in spite of the words, her father's tone was dead serious. Whatever was that bad, she most certainly wanted nothing to do with it. She had begun being afraid of what would happen if someone else got a ring with dangerous powers, but her father mentioning Uncle Gaspar's inspections allayed those fears. But Uncle Gaspar was a ghost now.

"Dad," she said. "What about Gregory? Is he going to keep inspecting the rings to guard against them having dark magic?"

"The power of Carol's ring was not dark magic," her mother said. Looking at her husband she continued, "What was done with the power was dark."

"Regardless," her husband said, "I believe that Gregory will continue to inspect the rings. In fact, I'm going to talk to him about it tomorrow."

"Speaking of which," Hannah said. "We need to be going. I need to check into the office, and you need to make security arrangements. Geely!"

With a soft pop, the beloved house elf appeared beside her mistress.

"Escort the children to their dorms, You and Kevin will take Carolyn first, then escort Kevin to his dorm. If anything happens to them, I'll hold you responsible."

"Yes Missus," The elf said as she bowed low.

"George, see them off, I have to speak with Bill about a few things before we go."

As their mother headed off back to the Dean's office, their father wrapped Kevin and Carolyn in tight hugs before leading them back to their dorms. After George and Geely had seen Kevin safely into his dorm room, Mr. Grace pulled Geely to the side.

"Geely," he said. "I know she's not a part of the family, but could you keep an eye on Rolf's Spittori's daughter as well? I want to make sure that everyone is protected."

"Geely will watch over the girl sir. Nothing will happen to her while I'm here."

"Thank you Geely. Get some sleep too. The security wizards will be here within a day or two and then you can come home."

"Yes sir," the elf said. As her master walked away, Geely slipped around the corner to quietly, yet forcefully slam her head against the wall. "Geely will disobey master George!" she whispered vehemently. "Geely will stay with children until bad crone is gone. Geely not going home without children." Each sentence was punctuated with repeated banging of her head into the wall.

After a few minutes, the dizziness evaporated from the elf's brain and she began her patrol of the school grounds between Aether, Vishnu, and Coeus Dorms. Nothing was going to get to the children tonight. Definitely, nothing was going to get through that did not wish to feel the vengeful wrath of an overprotective house elf.


	12. Ch 11: The Deadly Collective

**Chapter Eleven:**

**The Deadly Collective**

"Mole!" The Crone called out as she entered the chamber.

"Yes mistress," the Mole said as he rushed to her side.

"Are we prepared for our next collection?"

"Yes my love," he answered lowering his head. "The target will be alone tonight. Our men are watching his house. I have stationed twelve within yards of the property line just in case, and the remaining twelve are within summoning range."

"And the protean charm?" the Crone asked as she knelt in front of him. "What have we chosen to attach it to?"

"As we discussed mistress, using a permanent mark upon our flesh would be unwise, so close to the demise of Voldemort," The Mole answered raising his eyes to his mistress. "The rumors that the students that fought him had charmed fake coins seem to be true, as I was able to place the charm on several of our own."

"That is not very original my pet," The Crone frowned.

"Yes my love," the Mole said as he quickly lowered his head again. "After tonight, I will devise another plan."

"Not at all Mole," she said as she took his hand in hers, bringing him to her feet. "The coins make perfect sense. They have to be obscure enough not to draw attention. Have you protected them against loss?"

"I have placed binding charms on them. If the owner of a coin loses or spends it, it will return to him within moments."

"Excellent." The Crone purred as she led her pet from the chamber. "After tonight, we will be one step closer to accomplishing our first major goal."

"Yes my love." The Mole said, handing the golden mask to his mistress. Once The Crone had her mask in place, he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and fixed it so that it hid his own features. Once they were certain that they had acquired the proper image, they exited the hallway into an outer chamber where nearly three dozen wizards and witches were gathered.

Seeing the two enter the room, nearly all of the assembly straightened their posture and gave the new comers their full attention. The Crone gazed at the group and a smile split her face.

"Harcourt," she said looking at the foremost wizard in the group. "Where are we on recruitment?" The black-haired wizard stepped forward and gave a short bow.

"As you can see, we have acquired seven new members this week," he said, gesturing to the back of the crowd. "All personally vetted by myself and The Mole. We can expect our numbers to increase even more as our successes grow."

"Excellent," The Crone smiled. "And the Intel from the Aurors?"

"To our knowledge Mistress, they are still unaware that you have any faction at all." Harcourt answered. "With luck, we can have a small army before they are even aware."

"And your father," The Crone smiled as she watched the malevolence creep into the young Harcourt's eyes. "What does he think of all of this?"

"He is pathetically clueless," Harcourt growled. "He receives daily updates from our office, but still believes that your presence is not serious enough for him to focus on."

"But he has given such pretty speeches lately," said the Crone.

"Lip service, my Lady," said Harcourt. "Words placed into his mouth by others. He is as unfit to lead as any fool I have seen before him, likely worse."

"Which is why I will have you in his place when the time is right," The Crone said, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"And I will not fail you when that time comes," Harcourt said with an edge in his voice.

"As I suspected," the Crone smiled. "Have you heard any rumors of anyone other than Spittori and Grace working the investigation?"

"No ma'am, Leonhard still has the utmost confidence in the two," Harcourt smiled. "Of course, I have wrought wonders convincing her that expending more manpower is futile. If I may, I could simply imperius Leonhard and have her drop the investigation all together."

"That," The Crone said dropping her tone to a malicious level, "would be the most foolish thing you could ever do." Harcourt blanched as the Crone approached him.

"Tell me Jason," she said standing within inches of him. "How quickly would the rest of the aurors realize something was amiss if the head of the auror department suddenly dropped an investigation into the most serious threat they have seen in decades?"

"No-" Harcourt gulped, "No time at all Mistress. I hadn't thought my plan out fully."

"Your plan?" she asked. "You had no plan Jason. All you had was an idea. Plans have shape. They have contingencies. They have resolutions. I have a plan," she smiled as she returned to the front of the group. "My plan tonight will allow us to eliminate our next obstacle. You all know of our target. I want you to take up positions close by, and be prepared to enter the building should I call. If I have not summoned you by midnight, you are to reconvene here. Are we understood?"

"Yes Mistress!" the entire group called out.

The Crone nodded to The Mole who quickly dropped the anti-apparition charm from the building.

"We are off," said The Crone, before she and The Mole disapparated.

Carolyn was becoming frustrated. It was bad enough that she had two guards following her everywhere she went in public, but Geely insisted on going into the restrooms with her as well. Carolyn was just thankful that she convinced the elf that following her into the stalls was completely unnecessary. She loved her house elf dearly, however when Geely went into protective mode, she was impossible to avoid. Geely had not even allowed Carolyn, Kevin, or Malicia to eat anything the past two weeks until she had made certain that it was safe first.

Carolyn sat in the solitude of her stall, enjoying the three foot by three foot square of freedom and gathering her thoughts for a few moments. Too soon, however, a pounding on the door shattered her solitude.

"Miss Carolyn, is you alright?" Geely called from the other side of the stall door. "You is going to be late for lunch, and Geely has to make sure Master Kevin and Miss Mally is safe too."

"I'm coming Geely," Carolyn said, steeling herself to go back out into the world.

Carolyn heard the taps start on the sink before she even opened the stall door. After washing her hands quickly, she rushed out of the girls' bathroom hoping to get her dinner started while Geely was testing Kevin and Malicia's plates. Carolyn was practically running across the grounds getting to the main building when someone calling her name brought her up short.

"Carolyn, wait up!" Drew called as she ran towards her friend.

"Where have you been?" Carolyn asked.

"The library," the girl said as she caught up to Carolyn and her guards. "Something has been bothering me since Malicia got all torn up over your dream catcher."

"Drew, we're finally starting to get along with her," Carolyn said. "She didn't want the dream catcher I made for her, just let it drop."

"Yeah that's the thing," Drew said handing Carolyn a thick black bound book. She freaked out over it, like it was cursed or something."

"Yeah she didn't trust me to try to do something nice. So what, she must've made her own by now."

"That's the thing," Drew said as they entered the main building and turned towards the Dining Hall. "Miss Someverm said Malicia hasn't been back to the library since. I figured that if having a dream catcher was so important to her, she would have at least come back to figure out how to make one herself."

"Maybe she learned everything she needed before we got there," Carolyn said as the duo took their seats.

"How would she enchant it?"

"One of the older students?" Carolyn answered.

"Nope," Drew said. "According to Miss Someverm, those enchantments are only taught in post-N.E.W.T. Shaman Studies."

"So, a teacher enchanted it then."

"You're missing the point," Drew said frustrated. "She didn't want the dream catcher. She didn't know anything about them. If she did she would have known that the nature of them would have prevented anyone from being able to put a curse on one."

"Really?" Carolyn asked finally interested in the conversation. "Then if she wasn't interested in dream catchers, what was she reading about?"

"Open the book and find out."

Carolyn was saved from doing just that as Geely brought her freshly inspected plate to her and urged her to eat. While Carolyn was enjoying her lunch, she watched as her guards were replaced by their second shift replacements. This was the routine every day. Each morning she greeted her morning guards, two women who introduced themselves as Robin Evans and Cassidy St. Claire. While Cassidy was inclined to give Carolyn some modicum of privacy, Robin took her duties to the extreme, only letting Carolyn out of her sight for bathroom breaks and shift changes. Her second shift guards, Tommy Vinnetti and Angela Santiago were more relaxed. They preferred to keep an eye on Carolyn from a safe distance. True, Angela made certain to clear every room before Carolyn was allowed to enter, but other than that, Carolyn hardly noticed their presence.

Malicia seemed to enjoy the attention her guards gave her as well as the attention the rest of the school gave as she passed with her entourage. Carolyn had actually overheard Malicia informing one of her dorm mates that her guards would have no problem nullifying anyone she told them was a threat to her. Carolyn knew that the guards would only react to direct threats, but it still bugged her that Malicia would use their presence to bully others.

Kevin seemed to be the only one unaffected by the presence of his guards. For the most part, he ignored them, but made sure to thank them for their work when their shift ended for the day. He was just sitting back down from saying good-bye to his morning guards when the mail arrived. Carolyn was surprised to see Alcina swooping into the Dining Hall with the owls, but when the kite dropped a package in front of Carolyn, the girl's surprise changed to concern. She knew that Alcina would never deliver mail from anyone but her parents, but Carolyn had not sent a letter home in a week, and her last letter was already answered.

The package before her was roughly a foot long and a little over four inches wide and thick. Geely was at her side in an instant, obviously sensing her youngest ward's concern. Carolyn looked the package over then looked to Geely, before tearing the paper off. Inside was a leather-bound wooden box with a letter resting on top. Opening the letter, Carolyn began to read.

_**Dearest Carolyn,**_

_**I only just realized that I neglected to tell you how proud I am of your abilities. I have not seen a Grace, who plays the position of beater as well as you do since I swung the bat myself during school. Enclosed you will find the very bat I used when I was on the Aether team all five years that I played. I know you will eventually make the Aether team, but I ask that when you do, please try to avoid seriously injuring your brother. My best wishes for your luck and my warmest regards,**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Gaspar Grace (Deceased)**_

Carolyn smiled as she sat the letter aside and opened the box her great uncle had sent her. Inside was a thick wooden bat with iron bands dividing it into quarters and a thick sturdy leather strap at the end of the handle. Carolyn felt a rush of pride shoot through her just looking at her great uncle's bat. She had never known that Grand Uncle Gaspar played quidditch, but the knowledge that she shared this link with him somehow made everything that happened this past summer more bearable.

Carolyn was about to set the box to the side when a glint caught her eye. A clear ball, which looked as though it was filled with water, sat in the bottom of the box. When she lifted the globe out of the box, the water began to swirl. As it vanished, miniature figures appeared in the bottom, first an oval shape formed until it resembled a quidditch pitch. Next tiny people filled the stadium as fifteen more began flying around the inside of the globe in a tiny game of quidditch, complete with balls.

"That is awesome," Drew said beside her. "Can I see it?"

Carolyn handed the globe to her friend, who began turning it looking in from every angle. When she turned it upside down, the people in the stands went flying to the new bottom of the ball. The game inside paused as everything inside re-oriented itself, many of the occupants inside shaking their fists at Drew.

"I love magic," the girl said as she handed the memento back to Carolyn. Carolyn giggled as she watched the game resume. She found a stand in the bottom of the box and placed her globe on the stand so she could watch while she ate her lunch. Unfortunately, when she placed the globe in the stand the scene disappeared and the water returned.

"Hey," Drew said. But before her complaint could continue, Carolyn touched the globe with her finger and the scene returned.

"Remember, it's a wizard globe," she told her friend. "They're activated by the touch of a witch or wizard. You can watch the scene while you're holding it, but if you keep it in its stand you have to touch it for the scene to start."

"How long does the scene last in the stand?" Drew asked.

"Until the game's over."

"Wow," Drew said as Carolyn placed her bat next to her globe and the two continued their lunch. The two had barely gotten halfway through their lunch when Brenda finally entered the Dining Hall. She quickly noticed her roommates and sat down opposite them.

"I just got a letter from mom and dad," she began after giving her order to the house elf. "They said they may not be letting me come back after Christmas."

"Why not," Drew asked.

"They said it's too dangerous."

"Did you tell them we have security wizards all over the place," Carolyn asked.

"They already knew," Brenda said. "They say that security at school has never been an issue before."

"You have to change their minds Brenda," Drew said. "Who am I gonna talk to when Carolyn's snores wake us up in the middle of the night?"

"Hey!"

As the three girls laughed amongst themselves, Malicia and her guards left the Dining Hall. No one noticed that the girl was in a foul mood until she was outside and rounded on her guards.

"Look!" she said. "I need to be left alone for a while, so why don't the two of you buzz off for a while?"

The two guards looked at each other stunned. Their ward had never asked to be left alone before. She seemed to revel in using their presence to intimidate her classmates. Her request didn't matter however.

"Miss Spittori," the tall redhead, named James said. "We cannot let you out of our sight. We can hang back a few extra yards, but we have to stay close by in case something happens."

This was not the answer Malicia wanted at this time. She spun around and stomped off toward the Vishnu dorms. In just a few moments, she was outside her door, when she stopped and again faced her guards.

"Can I at least stay in my room alone?"

"Yes ma'am, but we have to stay out here," James said.

"Fine."

After closing the door behind her, Malicia put her ear to the door, listening to make sure they stayed in the hall. Satisfied she crept over to her window and opened it. A quick spell sent a rope ladder down the side of the building, while another one attached it to her windowsill. In no time, the girl was on the ground and vanished the ladder. As she ran across the grounds, she glanced back occasionally to make sure she wasn't being followed. In under a minute she was at her destination. Stepping inside the building, she looked around quickly to find she was alone before proceeding upstairs. Malicia approached the door she was looking for and cast a quick unlocking charm. Once she was inside, she went straight to the cage next to the window and opened it.

"So I'll ask them if nothing happens here between now and Christmas if I can stay," Brenda was saying to her roommates as they approached their dorm room.

"Sounds good," Carolyn said, opening the door and stepping in. "With dad's security here and all those wards they have on the grounds, I doubt Cosgrove could get anywhere near here anyway. Besides, all that, they've cancelled all trips to town until she's caught anyway." As she tossed box her bat and water globe came in, on the bed she turned back to see Drew staring at the door. "Earth to Drew," she said. "What's up with the door?"

"I could swear I locked it when I left for lunch," Drew said stepping in the room and closing the door.

"Maybe you forgot," Brenda said.

"I don't think so," Drew answered. "I always lock it if I'm the last one out."

"Oh my God," Carolyn said. She had stepped over to her nightstand to put her bat and globe on it when she stopped short. "Where's Alcina?"

The other two girls stared at the cage while Carolyn went to the window.

"It's still locked," she said giving it a test push. "She's got to still be in here."

The three girls began looking everywhere for the bird, in closets, under beds, behind dressers, but the kite was nowhere to be found. Carolyn was near panic.

"We need to let Miss Pinkerton know what happened," Brenda said.

"No, wait," Carolyn answered. "Look, there's no feathers scattered around, so wherever she went, she went on her own. If we go to Miss Pinkerton, she'll go to Dean Jarrel."

"So what," Brenda said. "You're familiar's been kidnapped Car. That's serious."

"Yeah but if your parents find out, there's no way they'll let you come back after Christmas."

"I'll worry about them later," Brenda answered. "We have to find out what happened to Alcina."

Before Carolyn could respond, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Drew said. When the door opened, Miss Pinkerton stepped in.

"Ladies," she said. "I need the three of you to come with me."

"We were just coming to see you," Brenda said as she stood up. "Carolyn's kite is missing."

Miss Pinkerton quirked her eyebrow. "Interestingly enough, it is because of your familiar that I have been sent to retrieve you," she said to Carolyn. "Ladies please follow me. The Dean wishes to see you."

"What's happened to Alcina?" Carolyn asked as the group filed out of the dorm room.

"I'm afraid that Dean Jarrel will have to discuss that," Miss Pinkerton said, noting Carolyn's guards stepping in behind them. "I can tell you that the bird just flew into the Dining hall with a note for him and he asked me to bring the three of you to his office."

"I haven't sent any notes," Carolyn said.

"So it seems," Miss Pinkerton said before pausing and looking back at her students. "You know, I try to make a point of getting to know my students over the course of their time here, but I must say, I am getting to know the three of you much more than I anticipated."

"Sorry ma'am," Carolyn said.

"It wasn't a complaint," said Miss Pinkerton as they resumed their trek. "I must say though, as a student I spent seven years at Willowood and didn't see the Dean's office as much as you have. Most students would be in trouble having been there so often."

As the group made their way back to the main building, Brenda, Drew, and Carolyn carried on a whispered conversation about what could be going on. They knew two things were certain. Someone had been in their room, and that person had used Carolyn's kite to send a message to Dean Jarrel.

"Sit down," Dean Jarrel said to the girls as they entered the office. Once the three complied, he hopped out of his chair and walked around his desk. "Miss Grace, I need to know what this is about," he said handing her a note.

"Someone broke into our room today," Carolyn said. "When we came back from lunch, Drew noticed the door was unlocked, and Alcina, my kite was missing. We were about to go tell Miss Pinkerton when she came to tell us that you wanted to see us."

"So you did not write the note?"

"No sir."

"Miss Epicene, Miss Adams?"

"No sir," the two said in unison.

"Then we have a quandary," the Dean said, looking up to them. "The contents of this note are something that I would prefer no one know about. However, it seems that someone in my school has access to this information. I must ask you all, do you know of any plans The Crone has?"

Each girl answered no, looking at each other, wondering where the Dean was going. Drew gave Carolyn a subtle shake of her head before the Dean continued.

"Miss Grace, please take your bird back to your room," he said. "And make certain that you are available if I need you to come back here."

"Yes sir," Carolyn said as the three girls rose to their feet. Once they were out of the office, Miss Pinkerton place locking and silencing charms on the door.

"Care to tell me what all the secrecy is William?" she asked.

"Oh Paulette," he sighed stepping over to her. "I would like nothing more than to never have to tell you what this is about." He sighed again before taking her hand and guiding her to the couch at the back of his office. "I'm afraid," he said once they were both seated, "that it appears someone in our school believes The Crone is in possession of a powerful and dangerous artifact."

"What kind of artifact?"

"The Deadly Collective," Dean Jarrel answered dropping his eyes.

"Why does that sound familiar?"

"It was barely mentioned in post-N.E.W.T. classes. The entirety of the wizarding world believes it to be a myth, so it is rarely mentioned," the Dean explained. "Unfortunately, several years ago, it was found in Lithuania. The people who had found it aimed to take it back to Voldemort, to help him gain more power. When they were killed, the device was lost again."

"How do you know about this?" Miss Pinkerton asked him.

"The individuals who found the collective included an old friend of mine," Dean Jarrel said. "Someone was under orders to work with the British Ministry to infiltrate Voldemort's Death Eaters. The group, to which this operative, whom we called Solace, was assigned, had been sent specifically to find it."

"And you know all of this because…"

"I became Solace's handler when I was in the Auror Corps," the Dean said. "Before I joined the Aurors, my trainer had recruited Solace straight out of school. Solace had talents that were useful and was willing to use them for a good cause. Naturally, once my trainer died, I became the handler. We learned about the collective, sent operatives to collect it and Solace, but it was too late. The device disappeared, Solace was killed, and well, a few months later Voldemort disappeared as well. We never resumed the search for the device because it seemed as though the threat was over. When Voldemort returned, the memory of the device had faded. Until today."

"What is going on?" Drew asked her friends. "Is this always going on in the wizarding world?"

"Is what always going on?" Brenda asked.

"All this… stuff," Drew answered. "Crazy old witches trying to kill kids, actually killing adults. People getting hexed into attacking others. Breaking into students' rooms to send secret messages to teachers."

"Usually life is pretty quiet," Brenda said. "Unfortunately, when people have a little power, they tend to get greedy and want more."

"This is absolutely crazy," Drew said as the trio re-entered their room, leaving the guards outside.

Drew took Alcina back to her cage and put her in, giving her a treat before closing the door. While she started getting her clothes ready for the next day, Brenda joined Drew on the other girl's bed.

"Hey, what's this?" Brenda asked, picking up a book off the bed.

"Oh my God," Drew said jumping up. "I totally forgot about this. Carolyn, come over here."

Carolyn looked up from her drawer shook her head and returned to her task. "If this is about that thing you were talking about, I told you I'm not interested." She told her friend as she pulled out a matching pair of socks.

"No, you were very interested, until we got distracted," Drew said. "Come here and look at what I found."

Sighing, Carolyn joined her friends on the bed as Drew opened the book she had checked out of the library. When Drew found the chapter she was looking for, _Arcane Artifacts and Mythical Treasures_, she quickly thumbed the pages until she found the entries she was looking for.

"Here," she said. "D, with Damocles Sword, Deadly Collective, and Dream Catchers."

"So what," Drew asked. "Ms. Someverm said that the sword and the other one were dark objects. Malicia had to have been looking up dream catchers."

"But what if she wasn't?" Drew asked.

"What do you mean, she was looking up the sword or the…" Carolyn paused to check the other entry, "deadly collective?"

"Exactly," Drew answer. "But more specifically, the deadly collective, look."

After Drew turned the book so Carolyn could see properly, she began reciting allowed while the other two read along.

"The Sword of Damocles: Dark Object. In the time when wizards and witches were permitted to work with and even serve muggle leaders, the dark wizard Philistus led the magical community of Syracuse, Italy for the muggle Tyrant Dionysius. Late one evening after Dionysius had disabused one of his courtiers of envy, Philistus took the sword his master used for the example and enchanted it so that it would remain invisible and always hover over the rulers of Italy. Legends say that if at any time the ruler of the day falls out of favor with the sword it will fall upon him and his death will herald the dawn of a new ruler. Due to the nature of the artifact, it has never been found and has therefore been ruled a legend rather than an artifact."

"Okay," Carolyn interrupted. "So if the sword is a legend and has never been found it can't be what Malicia was looking up."

"Exactly," Drew agreed.

"But if you look," Carolyn continued. "The Deadly thing is a myth too, so it can't have been that either."

"Wrong," Drew answered. "The Deadly Collective is a purported myth," she said pointing to the appropriate text. "The Deadly Collective was created by the sisters le Fay, consisting of Morgana, Elaine (wife of Lancelot and mother of Galahad), and Morgause (mother of Mordred and Gawain). Legend states that jealous of their brother, Arthur Pendragon's success, and the love of his people, the sisters created this chalice to capture his soul, hoping to use his body to rule in their image. The plan was thwarted when Merlin replaced the collective with The Holy Grail and tricked Elaine into presenting the object to Lancelot, who then entrusted it to his king. Merlin hid the object in the darkest woods of a distant land and protected it from all who would seek its powers. Although the object is presumed to be mythical, it was chronicled in Merlin's journals where he stated that he had destroyed the contraption."

"There, see." Carolyn said. "Even if it did exist, it says Merlin destroyed it."

"But what if the first part was right and he actually hid it because he couldn't destroy it?"

"So what," Carolyn snorted. "Malicia knows where to find something that's been hidden by the greatest wizard in history for nearly a thousand years?"

"No, but maybe she knows someone who does have it," Drew replied.

"Who?" Brenda asked.

"Cosgrove."

"Come on Drew," Carolyn said. "Cosgrove nearly killed Malicia. Why would she tell her about any ancient mythical weapons she has?"

"Maybe Cosgrove tried to kill her because Malicia found out," Drew said.

"How?" Carolyn asked. "Cosgrove didn't start her reign of terror until after the school term, and Malicia has not been away from school. She doesn't even read the papers. How could she have found out?"

"The same way you could have and not realized it."

"What?"

"Think about it. Cosgrove used to be an auror," Drew said. "Your mom and Malicia's dad used to work with her a lot, right?"

"I guess."

"So maybe, she's had it for a while and has even had it in your house or in Malicia's and neither of you realized it until Malicia saw it in this book."

"That's kind of a stretch Drew," Brenda said raising an eyebrow to her friend.

"Really," Carolyn chimed in. "I mean come on, even if Cosgrove were smart enough to find a powerful artifact like that, she surely wouldn't flaunt it in front of two of the most powerful and respected aurors in the country."

"She would if they didn't know what it was," Drew said smugly. "I mean look at it. It's not very big, maybe a couple of inches across. She could claim it was a make-up compact or an antique locket or something."

"A compact what?" Brenda asked as Carolyn took another look at the illustration in the book. Beside the picture was a note saying _actual size_.

"It's powder and colors that women put on their face to enhance their beauty," Drew was saying as Carolyn straightened suddenly from looking at the drawing. "Every woman in the world wears it."

"Muggle women maybe," Brenda said. "Witches just use glamour charms."

"Okay, you have a point, but muggle women don't have that luxury, so we make do with what we have."

"We?" Brenda asked.

"I mean they," Drew said as Carolyn got to her feet.

"Listen guys," she said gathering up a piece of paper and a pen. "It's been fun playing detective, but I want to write to my mom and dad and let them know about the bat and globe Uncle Gaspar sent me."

"Sure," Brenda said, ducking the pillow Drew had tossed at her. "Want us to come with?"

"No, I have my shadows, you guys stay here and dream up more conspiracies," Carolyn said, faking a smile. "Maybe you can come up with one about how Cosgrove is going to use muggle make-up to take over the world."

"Ha, ha," Drew said, lobbing a pillow at her best friend. "Laugh now, but it's a sound theory."

"Or it would be if the theorist was of sound mind," Brenda said, earning herself another pillow.

As Carolyn exited the room, she closed the door on her friends' laughter. Walking up to her guards, she asked them if they could give her a little extra breathing room for a few minutes while she talked to Geely. They agreed to and the girl exited the dorm and headed directly to the Weeping Willow at the center of the grounds, before calling for her house elf.

"Yes Miss?" Geely greeted her when she appeared at Carolyn's side with a loud crack.

"Geely, I need you to take a note to my dad," Carolyn said, sitting down and resting against the ancient tree. "And I need you to promise not to give it to anyone else."

"Geely cannot leave Miss here unprotected," the elf said wringing her hands. "Master Kevin and Miss Carolyn needs Geely here."

"Geely," Carolyn said looking up from her note. "This is really important. We have our guards here with us. We'll be safe while you deliver this."

"Miss Carolyn, Geely promised to look after you and Master Kevin and Malicia Spittori until the bad Crone is caught. Geely will not fail."

"Geely, it's just going to be for a few minutes," Carolyn said continuing to write. "All you're going to do is pop over to dad, give him the note, wait for a response, and then pop right back."

"No Miss Carolyn," the elf pleaded. "Please don't ask Geely to give up protecting. What if something bad happens while I'm gone? What if the bad Crone attacks the school? Your guard wizards can't protect you like I can."

"I know Geely, but this note could help get Cosgrove caught quicker."

Geely looked torn. She wanted The Crone caught and her children out of danger, but the thought of leaving them in the care of others was horrifying to her. In the end, the hope of ending the danger won out.

"Miss Carolyn must promise to stay right here, and the guard wizards be close to you until Geely gets back."

"I promise Geely," Carolyn said, waving Tommy Vinnetti and Angela Santiago over to her. As they approached, she addressed them for Geely's benefit. "Guys, I'm going to sit here until Geely gets back, can you stay close just in case? It'll make me feel safer."

The two guards looked at each other before nodding their approval. Carolyn gave Geely a smile and the elf returned it with a worried look before disapparating from the school grounds.


	13. Ch 12: November

**Chapter Twelve:**

**November**

"So if I understand correctly, you want a mansion to rival Biltmore," George Grace said, looking at the man across the table.

"That's correct," the man replied.

"And you want this mansion to be a blend of Victorian, Queen Anne, and other Gothic attributes?"

"Yes." The man said, as he looked George Grace in the eye without blinking. "Will that be a problem?"

"Well Mr. Hartford, to be honest," Mr. Grace began with this new potential client. "I would likely be wasting your time if I told you it would be a simple task. The truth is that in spite of Americanized reproductions of the styles, they do not blend easily into a beautiful house."

"But you see I do not want just a house Mr. Grace."

"Yes, I understand Mr. Hartford, but a mansion to eclipse the House of Vanderbilt with the blending of styles that you want is a daunting task for any architect."

"Mr. Grace," Mr. Hartford said. "I am willing to pay you five million dollars for this design, and an additional ten percent to have it completed within two years. I want to break ground on _Hartfordshire_ on January 1, 2005."

Mr. Grace sighed before looking to the man sitting across from him. Five and a half million dollars in muggle money is the largest commission his firm had ever been offered, but what the man wanted would likely result in a monstrosity that no one would want to step foot in, much less live in.

"Mr. Grace," Hartford continued. "Your name was given to me by the Masons. For them, you designed a home that blended the Georgian style with Dutch Colonial, two very ugly blocky styles in my opinion. But the Mason house is splendid to the eye and amazingly comfortable to visit."

"While I thank you for the compliment Mr. Hartford," Mr. Grace said. "I must be honest with you, the task you have set before me is quite daunting. The sheer size should make me run away. However, I'm afraid that if I turn down this challenge, it will haunt me the rest of my life."

"So you accept my offer."

"Yes," Mr. Grace answered. "Only because if this design is made and is beautiful, I would throw myself from a bridge if my name weren't attached to the design."

With a laugh, Mr. Hartford rose and extended his hand to George Grace. The small firm that George had nurtured in the muggle market now had the opportunity to design a home that would be talked about for a hundred years. George smiled at his newest client, knowing that he would rather die than to pass on this opportunity. The two men worked their way to the door to George's office while Hartford explained that he would have his lawyer look over the contract this afternoon.

"And if all goes well, you should have your retainer by tomorrow morning." He said as George opened the door leading to the outer office.

"That sounds great Mr. Hartford," he said before indicating his secretary. "Cynthia will take your information and have the contracts out to you this afternoon. If you will excuse me however, I have a beautiful wife to meet for an early lunch."

"By all means."

George turned back into his office and he had just closed the door when a loud crack stopped him short. He was not concerned that the noise was heard outside because he kept privacy charms on his office at all times. What concerned him was the reason for the noise. Standing right in front of his desk was the diminutive house elf that had served him since he was a young boy.

"Geely, what's wrong?" he asked clearly concerned. "Are the children ok? Who's been hurt?"

"No one is harmed Master Grace Sir," Geely answered. "Miss Carolyn sent me to give you this message."

George Grace went from being concerned to being annoyed in record time. Geely had been placed at the school to protect Carolyn, her brother, and Malicia Spittori, not to deliver messages.

"Miss Carolyn said that she is giving you information to stop the Bad Crone so the children will be safe again," Geely supplied noticing the annoyance on her master's face.

Confused, George opened the letter and began to read.

_Dear Daddy,_

_I know that you are both surprised and annoyed that I sent this by Geely, but it is important that you get it immediately. Daddy, I think mama is in danger. Malicia was looking up an old artifact that had her worried. She recognized the artifact because she had seen her dad with it. Daddy, I think Cosgrove has been getting away so easily because Malicia's dad is helping her. If Mr. Spittori is helping her, then mama is in real danger and you have to help her._

_The artifact that Mr. Spittori has is called the Deadly Collective. Malicia knew her father had it and stole it from his cloak the day he and mama came to the school because of that dream catcher. That must have been why Cosgrove came to the school that night and killed Bill the house elf. She must have been taking the Deadly Collective back and she didn't kill Malicia because Mr. Spittori was working for her. Daddy you have to do something, but whatever you do, get mama away from Mr. Spittori. Write me and let me know what's happening._

_Love,_

_Carolyn_

George closed the letter and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Geely," he said. "Go back to the school and stick with Carolyn no matter what. Do not let her out of your sight. Make sure Kevin is safe, but Carolyn is your priority. Tell her I understand everything and I am acting on it now."

"Yes Master," Geely said apparating out of his office quickly. George too the paper over to his fireplace and ignited the wood within it. After throwing some floo powder into the flames, he called out, "Nurgle's Funeral Home." In a moment, a beautiful woman just a bit older than him appeared in the flames.

"Something terrible must be happening for you to call me," she said.

"It's resurfaced. The Crone has it," he said. The woman's complexion paled in the fire light.

"How?"

"I don't know, but considering what I just found out, I have a suspicion. If I'm right, you're in danger and so is Hannah."

"I'm on my way to the hill," she said, clearly agitated. "Call ahead and make the arrangements."

"I've got to call Hannah first," he said. "But I'll have to talk to Gaspar. I don't know if he's informed Gregory of the protocols yet."

With a curt nod, the woman disappeared from the fireplace and George threw another pinch into the flames.

"211 Palmetto Ln., Piedmont Acres," he said while turning to his desk to withdraw his wand from a hidden compartment.

George Grace had his wand in his hand as he stepped out of the fireplace into his living room. He made certain to point his wand in whatever direction he was looking as he scanned the room. When he was certain that no one was in the living room, he progressed throughout the rest of the house. Finding no one in the house, George Grace made his way to his wife's private office, which was next to his own. Flicking his wand with a silent spell, he checked to see if there were any magical wards or alarms on anything in the office. Finding none, George made his way to the tall file cabinet where Hannah kept papers connected to her cases.

The contents of these files were not sensitive, but were used as references for Hannah. Opening the top drawer, he quickly found what he was looking for. George Grace pulled the file marked "The Crone" out of the cabinet and scanned through the papers until he came to the newspaper article, which he knew was there. Ignoring the print, George waited for the picture to start from the beginning and watched closely. Sure enough, he saw it. Hannah and Rolf Spittori were leading Candace Cosgrove in for questioning regarding the deaths of the Gringott's Goblin and her own House Elf. George noticed that while Cosgrove was ignoring Rolf for the most part, she was glaring daggers through Hannah, but what he was looking for was the watch that Rolf put in his pocket.

When the picture cycle began again, George cast a charm on the page that enlarged the image. Getting a good look at the watch, George gasped and slammed the file shut. He quickly put the file back in the cabinet and headed for the living room fireplace.

"Grace Hill," he called after throwing the green floo powder onto the flames.

"Are you sure George?" the ghost of Gaspar Grace asked when George had explained everything to his cousin and his uncle.

"I'm positive," George, answered. "Rolf Spittori has the Deadly Collective."

"So, that explains everything that went down," Gaspar said ponderously.

"So if I understand everything," Gregory interrupted. "When you went to try and retrieve Carol, you were also under orders to get this artifact."

"Yes," George and Gaspar said in unison.

"And when Carol's friends attacked, you thought they made off with the artifact, but Spittori actually kept it himself."

"Right," said George.

"So, if he and Hannah were the only two left conscious, how did she not notice?" Gregory asked.

"Rolf has been in love with her since she started at Willowood," George began. "I wouldn't doubt that rather than stun or harm her, he simply modified her memory of the event."

"So, we get Hannah away from Spittori and then what?" Gregory asked.

"I need you to contact Secretary Grayson and see if the Guardians can step in. With Rolf involved with Cosgrove, it's hard to tell who in the Auror Corps we can trust."

"Okay," Gregory said.

"Go get your wife," Gaspar's ghost added. "We'll handle everything from here."

"Now, can anyone tell me the difference in a banishment charm and a disillusionment spell?" Mr. Juniper asked. Carolyn, Drew, Brenda, and Drema, the green-haired girl, were the only ones with their hands raised. "Miss Epicene," Mr. Juniper called.

"Banishment charms basically repel an object, while disillusionment spells cause the items to disappear," Drew answered.

"Very good," Mr. Juniper said. "Now, this handy little spell has become quite popular in recent decades. In fact, its popularity spread more quickly than any spell before it. Apόstajorά!" With a wave of his wand, the book on his desk disappeared. Before anyone realized it, however, a loud thump was heard at the back of the room, followed by a yelp from a tall blonde boy, whom Carolyn knew from the Aether dorm as Xavier Zimmer.

"Mr. Zimmer," Mr. Juniper said. "Would you care to tell me what spell I just used?"

"Um…" Xavier answered to a chorus off giggles from the rest of the class.

"No, Mr. Zimmer, the Um spell isn't taught until your N.E.W.T. classes. Does anyone else know?" Carolyn's hand shot into the air with the other three class leaders. "Yes, Miss Grace."

"The teleport spell sir."

"Excellent," Mr. Juniper said. "Apόstajorά was developed by a Greek wizard after visiting a muggle cousin in 1971. Galen Palamara saw what he called the most inspirational action in history. What he saw was a muggle television show called Star Trak, where muggles had developed the technology to not only apparate with the use of machines, but to transport other items using the same machines. Palamara spent the next five years developing the Apόstajorά spell, which his muggle cousin called the 'teleport' spell. Now, knowing the originating language can anyone translate the…"

While Mr. Juniper continued with the lesson, Carolyn's thoughts turned back a week. A little more than an hour after she had sent Geely to her father with a message, the elf returned and pulled Carolyn's two guards off to the side and into a quick conference. Carolyn waited for the guards to get closer. When the two humans nodded to the house elf and took their regular positions, Carolyn approached Geely.

"Geely, what happened," she asked. "I expected you back an hour ago."

"Geely has been back, Miss," the elf explained. "I was just making sure the guards for Master Kevin and Miss Malicia were on watch. Geely will not leave Miss Carolyn's side until the Bad Crone is caught."

"Why?" Carolyn asked. "What did daddy say?"

"Master says that Geely is to stay with Miss Carolyn."

"Why?"

"He did not say Miss," the elf said looking apologetic. "But Geely will not let Miss out of her sight."

In spite of her outward fun-loving appearance in the days leading up to Thanksgiving break, Carolyn was actually a nervous wreck. Just a few days after Carolyn sent the message to her father, she received his response. She, Drew, Brenda, and the Ponus sixth grader, Drema Kelp were sitting under the willow tree at the center of the grounds, when her family's owl swooped in with a letter that it dropped on Carolyn's lap.

_**Carolyn,**_

_**I understand why you are so worried. I don't even want to think about how you found out about that artifact, but I do want you to stop worrying about it. I'm checking things out myself and making sure that you are right about The Crone having it, and Rolf working with her. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I believe that your mother will be safe working with him as long as he doesn't suspect she knows anything.**_

_**Regardless darling, I want you to stop worrying about this woman and Mr. Spittori. If what you suspect is true, I'll bring the proof to your mother and she and the honest aurors in the department will deal with the two of them. Stay out of trouble and pay more attention to your classes. Give Kevin my love.**_

_**Dad.**_

This was not what Carolyn wanted to hear. She had wanted to hear that her mother was safe, the Deadly Collective was found, Cosgrove and Spittori were arrested, and everything was back to normal.

Geely had been true to her word as well. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving break, Carolyn was never alone. Even her bathroom refuge was shattered by Geely's insistence that Carolyn continue to talk to her when the stall door was closed. The complete lack of privacy was driving Carolyn nuts, but the girl was helpless to change the situation.

As Carolyn's thoughts were brought back to the present, Mr. Juniper was just finishing his explanation of the perils of trying to use the teleport spell on people.

"Unlike splinching, however, a failed teleport of another person can lead to-"

"No!" Mr. Juniper was interrupted by the voice of a student coming from the hall. Without a thought, the transfiguration teacher practically ran to the classroom door, followed closely by his students.

Once in the hallway, the class was greeted by groups of students and teachers leaning out their respective classrooms, watching Ms. Hungorn comforting an older student. Five teachers approached the duo speaking quietly.

"Who is that?" Carolyn heard one of her classmates ask.

"That's Ben Biddle," another classmate said. "He's one of Vishnu's beaters. I think he's a senior."

Carolyn looked on as the older boy's shoulders began to shake and his sobs echoed up and down the hallway. The other teachers separated and returned to their classes.

"Everyone inside," Mr. Juniper said to them. Once, everyone had regained their seats, Mr. Juniper took a shaky breath.

"As you can guess," he began. "Mr. Biddle has just received some very traumatic news." He brushed his fingers through his thinning hair before continuing. "Ms. Hungorn has informed us that Dean Jarrel will make an announcement at dinner tonight, but to prevent rumors from spreading, she has suggested that we inform you of what is going on. Yesterday, Benjamin's father, Bertram was found in his home, the latest apparent victim of The Crone."

The class gasped in unison as he continued. "Because of the sensitive nature of what has happened, I'm afraid I must ask each of you not to comment on this until Dean Jarrel's announcement. We would like to prevent any hurtful rumors from spreading throughout the school until more information can be gathered." Seeing his students look to one another, Mr. Juniper continued in an even more somber voice. "I assure you that anyone caught discussing this event before Dean Jarrell's announcement tonight will be serving detention for a very long time."

At this news, Mr. Juniper resisted the urge to smirk when each of his students' eyes grew large. "Given what has happened, I am going to excuse you early today. I want each of you to return to your dorms until your next class." With that, he turned his back to his class and they rose to exit.

When the last student exited the classroom, Julius Juniper left through his private entrance. In the secreted hallway, he quickly made his way to the Charms classroom, arriving just as Paulette Pinkerton was leaving through her own private exit.

"Paulette," he called, getting her attention.

"Julius," she smiled rushing to meet him.

"I was just coming to look for you," she said. "It's time we went to Dean Jarrel. With what happened to Benjamin's dad, he's likely to either close the school or at the very least increase security even more."

"I'm not sure if he'll do that, considering the attack wasn't actually targeting a student," Mr. Juniper said. "But you're right. We do need to talk to him."

"So, what did you tell the students?" Ms. Pinkerton asked.

"Just what Hazel told us to tell them," he answered. "And I told them that any discussion of the news would lead to an extensive detention."

"Me too," Ms. Pinkerton snorted. "But do you really think that will stop their little tongues from wagging?"

"I doubt it," Mr. Juniper replied taking her by the arm. "Come, we need to talk to the Dean. As if he doesn't have enough to worry about."

By the time dinner began, not only had the entire school heard the news of Benjamin Biddle's dad, but also well over half of the student body had detention slips. Before Dean Jarrel entered the dining hall, teachers made their way among the students. They informed the deserving students the length and nature of their detention. Fortunately, Carolyn and her roommates avoided the punishments, but she saw with some merriment that Malicia and her friends did not.

"I think this is going to be the largest detention in history," Ken Reese said, leaning in to talk to the girls, holding his own detention slip.

"You too Ken?" Drew asked. "You're a student rep."

"Well, in my defense, I was told by a student and no one mentioned the detention when they told me."

"Be that as it may Mr. Reese," Ms. Pinkerton said as she approached the group. "You are to report to Mr. Ironhands each night for the next week for detention."

"Yes, Ms. Pinkerton," Ken said. As Ms. Pinkerton walked away towards her next student, Ken leaned in once more. "That's weird. Everyone else I've talked to has gotten a month's detention for this."

"Relax Kenny," a new voice came as a hand clapped down on his shoulder. Looking up, the group saw it was Kevin coming over to join them before dinner could start. "We couldn't get to you in time, so we couldn't give you a heads up."

"A heads up about what?" Carolyn asked her brother.

"It was us," Kevin said. "The teachers got the student government and dorm monitors to give detention slips to anyone they caught talking about Ben or his dad."

"So why didn't I know?" Ken asked.

"Paul couldn't find you. He looked in the dorms and your class."

"So what do I do about my detention?"

"Serve it," Kevin said. "Ironhands isn't so bad, but to be honest, Ben is our friend, that alone should have kept you from discussing it until you found out what was happening."

Blushing, Ken nodded agreement before clapping his hand on Kevin's shoulder and getting up. While Ken headed for the door mumbling about finding Mr. Ironhands, Kevin looked at his sister and her friends.

"First," he began. "I'm proud of you guys for not discussing what was going on. I'm sure Ben will appreciate it too. Second, I want you all to write your parents tonight and reassure them that you are alright. With The Crone attacking our political leaders, most parents are probably going nuts wondering when she'll attack the school again."

"Lighten up Kevin," Brenda said. "Our parents know we're safe here at school."

"Yeah," said Drew. "I mean my mom wouldn't be worried at all, she's happy living life as a muggle."

Kevin grinned at the trio as he too rose from his seat. "I expect you'll have your letters sent before dark," he said before turning to head back to his own table and his waiting girlfriend.

After a few minutes, the students had all gathered in the dining hall and those who needed it had received their detentions. As everyone sat in subdued silence, Dean Jarrell entered and looked out upon his student body. He informed them that there had been an attack on Benjamin Biddle's home, where his father had died and his mother had been seriously injured. Benjamin had left to be with his mother and see to the arrangements for his father. Tentative arrangements were set to have memorial services within a couple days of Thanksgiving, allowing those close to Benjamin or the Biddle's to take part in any ceremony.

After dinner, Carolyn, Drew and Brenda were walking to their room, when Kevin came rushing up to them.

"Car," he called as he approached. "I just got a note from dad. We're gonna be spending the break at Grace Hill."

Carolyn's face lit up. In spite of the one bad incident last summer, Carolyn had thoroughly enjoyed her time at the family estate. She couldn't wait to see Glenda, Rachel, and even Gunthar, not to mention all the equines.

"Great," she said. "Are they coming to pick us up, or what?"

"Dad said he'll be here on Sunday and we'll take the coach from here," Kevin said, handing the note to Carolyn.

"The coach?" Brenda asked. "Why not just floo or portkey?"

"Because Carolyn gets-" without warning a huge sloppy glop of mud smacked Kevin right in the face. He reached up and cleared most of it from around his eyes just in time to see his sister put away her wand. "You," he said slowly. Carolyn smirked at him.

"Are," he continued, with menace. The smirked dropped from her face.

"Dead," he growled. Carolyn was off like a shot, Geely, and the two human guards hot on her heels. As Kevin took off after his sister, Drew and Brenda's shocked faces melted into peals of laughter as they too took off after their friend.

Sunday arrived with dark clouds in the skies and over the heads of many of the students. Most had only served two nights of detentions, but they knew that their punishments would continue once they returned. Carolyn and her roommates were in an even worse mood. None had detention but Geely's insistence that they have all their stuffed packed before going to bed last night caused all three girls only to have four hours of sleep before the house elf was rousing them for breakfast. Their moods did not improve as they entered the dining hall to the scene of Kevin and Natalee murmuring back and forth about whom would miss whom more.

"Ugh," Brenda sighed as she took her seat. "I'm going home and sleeping for two days."

"I love Geely to pieces," Drew said between yawns, "but she can be a task mistress when she wants to be."

"Yes Miss Drew, but you won't be late for going home now will you?" Geely asked cheerily as she inspected the plates brought to the girls. Either she did not see Drew sticking her tongue out at her or chose to ignore it as she rushed over to Kevin to check on him.

By seven o'clock, the girls had finished their breakfasts and the rest of the school had come in for a quick bite before getting ready to leave at nine. Carolyn had just rose from the table, to go pack the one thing she hadn't wanted Geely to see when morning mail came through the open windows. Carolyn deftly caught the letter that the brown tawny dropped to her.

"It's from Dad and my cousin Gregory," she announced opening the letter. "They said that if you're parents are okay with it, we'd love to have you at Grace Hill for Thanksgiving."

"Mom and Dad will probably be easy to convince," Brenda said joining Carolyn's smile.

"I'm still not so sure about my mom," said Drew. "I think she still wants to avoid the magical world as much as she can."

"I still can't understand how a witch can just not use magic," Brenda said frowning. "You'd think she'd do accidental magic at least."

"I don't know," Drew said, chewing her lip.

The three girls headed out of the dining hall and headed for their dorm to retrieve their luggage. As they approached the building, Carolyn smacked her head as she remembered what she needed to do.

"Geely," she said, turning to her smallest guard. "Don't forget to check on Malicia. If her dad is still busy working on the case, he may not be picking her up."

"You goes straight to your room Miss," Geely said. "Geely will know if you don't."

"I promise, see, I'm going in now," Carolyn said as she stepped into the building. With the house elf safely out of sight, Carolyn ran up the stairs to their dorm to grab her mother's diary and pack it.

"Maybe, I'll get a chance to read some more of it over break," she said as she re-locked her case.

"I hope your mom doesn't find out you have it," Brenda said as she and Drew entered their room.

"I'll be fine," Carolyn said, allowing Alcina into her cage and grinning at the thought of the things her mother did at her age.

"Anyway," said Drew. "If I can talk mom into it, I'll send you an owl and let you know we're coming." The three girls each drew their wands and began levitating their luggage out the door and downstairs. Once in the common area, they placed their bags next to the door and headed back outside.

"So you think Rolf actually has it?" the woman asked.

"I went back through all of the papers since this mess started," George answered. "When he and Hannah took her in for questioning when her house elf was murdered, he was putting it in his pocket."

"Are you sure it was the collective?"

"Do you think I wouldn't recognize it?" he snapped.

"Of course not," she answered softly, looking over at him.

She had always admired George, since they were in school. It would have been so easy for him to turn to the dark side given the powers he possessed. After the accident he had in seventh grade, he really changed his outlook. He still managed to get into trouble from time to time, but every time she needed him, he was there for her. She had forgotten how often little Georgie had saved her from trouble, but she would never forget the time he saved her life. For that alone, she had dropped everything to join him to save his wife, and maybe the entire wizarding world.

The two cautiously approached the house they had been watching for the past hour, and she cast a charm to determine any alarms or traps on the front door.

"For an auror, he's pretty trusting," she said. "No alarms, a simple locking charm, and repelling charm on the knob and knocker."

"Disable them and I'll lead in," George said. As she worked her magic, George cast a detection charm on the entire house, looking for living beings inside. Finding no signs, he waited just a few seconds for her to disable the last of the charms on the door. Once, they were dropped, she opened the door and allowed him to enter first.

"I'll check his office," he said. "You go check his bedroom. We'll meet here in 10 minutes to look for a basement or secret room."

Nodding to him, the woman moved swiftly up the stairs while George moved to where he knew the office was located. As he entered the office, George's mind went back nearly thirty years to his eighth grade year at Willowood.

_For two years, George had been the target of some foul pranks. George suspected Hannah Mercer at being behind them, until the night that he and Bill Jarrell were walking back from detention. Rolf Spittori had, been waiting for them and leapt out of the shadows. It was the last week of the school year and Rolf was set to graduate. George saw the hex coming, but couldn't grab Bill fast enough to phase them both through the floor. As he watched his best friend go down, George activated his ring power and dropped through the floor of the hallway. As he came to a landing on the floor below, he deactivated the ring and ran straight to the administration building. As he slammed into the front door, he came face to face with Dean Wilcox. Rolf was disciplined for the attack, but he swore he alone pulled all of the pranks on George and his friends. Billy had only been stunned, but with his diminutive size, the attack was nearly fatal._

"I should have known then he was dark," George said, bringing his thoughts back to the task at hand. After casting a quick detection charm, George proceeded to look into each drawer and cabinet in the room. Ten minutes of searching produced nothing, but George would have been surprised if it had. He met the woman in the living room and noted the mess her light brown hair had become.

"Take a nap up there?" he asked her.

"Nearly," she answered. "He's got a privacy ward on his bedroom door. Apparently he doesn't want the kid to interrupt him at night."

"Ew," George said looking over a shelf full of curiosities. He lifted the lid on a small box, only to find a set of wooden teeth inside. Beside it was a pair of glass eyes followed by a tin horn of the type used to enhance hearing in times past. "He has a unique taste in memorabilia," George said, turning from the shelf. "Too bad he doesn't have the collective just sitting around."

"Let's see if he has a basement," she said, heading towards the kitchen. As they exited the room, neither noticed as the glass eyes followed their every move.

The two searched the house for another half hour without finding a basement of any other secret rooms or hiding spots. As they stepped out of the floo in George's office, the woman slumped in his chair.

"That was a colossal waste of time," she said, straightening her hair. As she pulled her mane back into a ponytail, part of it caught on the gold chain at her neck pulling the medallion it held from under her blouse. George stared at the medallion remembering when he gave it to her. He had worshipped her growing up, and she promised him the night he gave her the medal that she would keep it forever and always be there for him if he needed her. As it had turned out, she had needed him more often than the other way around. He had protected her and kept her hidden for so many years, only now to bring her back into danger. If it were anyone but his Hannah and children in danger, he would have kept her safe still.

"I can't believe I pulled you into this," he sighed, "based simply on Carolyn's suspicions."

"She's a smart girl," she said, flashing him her dimpled smile. "Must get it from her mom." Seeing the scowl from George, she continued, "At least she was right. You saw him with it in the picture."

"Yeah, but that was only after I dragged you back."

"Dragged schmagged," she said. "Do you know how mad I would be if you hadn't called me for this?"

"Still," he said. "I should have verified it first."

"Well now that it's verified, let's concentrate on finding it. We'll grab some lunch and then check Cosgrove's house."

"Yeah," George sighed as he pressed the button to inform his secretary that he needed two lunches brought in.

"How safe are they?" the woman asked him as he sat behind the desk.

"They each have two guards and Geely won't leave Carolyn's side."

"It's funny," she said smiling. "I always figured it would be Kevin that got caught up in something like this."

"He's hardly a by-stander."

"True, but Carolyn is right on the edge of the trouble."

"Yeah," he sighed again. "At least while she's at school, Bill can keep her safe."

"And when she's not?"

"They will be at Grace Hill," he said, giving her a fierce grin. "The devil himself can't get to the family there."

"I bet," she said, giving a snort of laughter. "Ghost or not, I'd hate to see anyone get through Gaspar Grace."

"He is a presence," George smiled as his secretary brought their lunches in.

"What time do you need to pick them up?" the woman asked, tucking her medallion back into her blouse before grabbing one of the sandwiches.

"We have time to check out Cosgrove's place," George answered. "As long as we don't take too long searching it, I'm taking the Coach straight to the school." As the two ate, they mixed their conversation with a bit of Grace family gossip and strategy for searching the Cosgrove house.


End file.
